×

Slum To School Project: 1,000 Children Hopeful Of Education

At least 1,000 children in some slums in Nigeria are hopeful of accessing education through the Slum to School project. The founder of the organisation, … Continue reading Slum To School Project: 1,000 Children Hopeful Of Education


Otto Orondam.

Otto Orondam.At least 1,000 children in some slums in Nigeria are hopeful of accessing education through the Slum to School project.

The founder of the organisation, Otto Orondam, said on Sunday that an additional 350 children would be added to the 650 that are already enrolled in schools.

The foundation is, however, seeking more funds through a fundraising project held annually.

Educational scholarship and community mentorship hubs would be created at different parts of Nigeria to provide a platform for children not having access to education.The organisation has limited the access provided to basic education foundation – primary and secondary school levels.

“Because they are mainly young children and they are too young to venture out of the community alone and the schools are more in the outskirts of the community so we want to go in the community and educate the children there.

“We are building schools and they are schools in the community. They will not just serve as schools. They will also have other purposes which will benefit the community like the health centre, a skill acquisition centre a community library and a community ICT centre.

“These are things that we have been able to discover that if these kinds of facilities are in these communities that do not really have these kind of amenities, it will help the communities. It will help the children also get access to education right in the comfort of their community,” Orondam said.

He said that the foundation had been able to evaluate the cost of taking a child through the foundation of education and had discovered that it would cost 30,000 to cater for a child’s need in school for one year.

This, he said, covers uniforms, bags books sandals, chairs, psycho-social support, medical support excursions.

“It is a whole package and it has been brought down to 30,000 for a child. We have had over 3,000 volunteers from different countries who have supported the project.

“For 1,000 children, the foundation is looking at a target of 30 million Naira.

“We need to start building the culture in young people to think of building the society first before they will think about themselves,” he said.

The Slum To School initiative identifies communities that are vulnerable. Its first input is in Makoko a riverine area in Lagos State, with over 500 children benefiting already.

Saskia_Wegener_
Saskia Wegener said Slum To School is a project that should be supported by everyone.

“We do lots of community surveys and run advocacy campaigns to identify that the community understands the importance of education. There is this eagerness that we see in the need for the children to go to school.

“We profile the children and we use a vulnerability assessment index which we use to identify the vulnerability of a child and we identify those that need the lifeline to be in school and we provide it to them,” Orondam said.

An international volunteer, Saskia Wegener, said that the fund raising would be a social media-driven campaign, where people could donate on a dedicated website, www.trupper.com.

She also said that the foundation would hold a charity walk on September 13 on Lekki-Ikoyi bridge.

“The walk will hold as a fund raising campaign and Nigerians have been urged to participate by signing up on,” she said.

About 400 volunteers are participating in the event they said would bring together a lot of exciting people and would also see the unveiling a few Slum To School Ambassadors.

The foundation is looking to reduce the number of Nigeria’s out of school children, which is among the highest in the world, through the Slum to School platform.