Their voice may be faint but their pens are sharp now. This was the expression of students and pupils of St Paul’s College (a mix of primary and secondary schools) in Kabba, Kogi, Nigeria. A team of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members distributed writing materials and we talked about the #UpforSchool campaign and educated them on the importance of education and education as a right.
It’s no news that most students and kids in schools like these attend classes with either insufficient books and writing materials or nothing because their parents cannot afford it or neglect its importance.
As a Global Youth Ambassador for A World at School, I briefed the students and pupils on the activities of AWAS, inspiring them to value education and love education - citing our success and that of other global ambassadors. The climax of the day was when students wanted their “pen-full voices” heard and happily signed the #UpforSchool Petition on their blackboards.
My next passion is ProjectREAD, where I’m building a team to build libraries for these schools, furnish them with relevant books, start book clubs and “students inspiring students” sessions and also speak out to make government invest more in education.
A total of 58 million kids are out of school globally, with Nigeria scoring high on the list - and I’m here to change that. Come join me. Show your support and sign the petition.
Remember, as Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said: “One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.
Living a life worth living starts
by knowing a ife worth living. Everyday provides us with unique new
opportunities to give, to learn and to grow which are the essences of
education: learn-practice-grow-give-learn and the circle continues.
Education was a key rusting until
practice came as a grease in restoring the joy of education. This week as an
insight, one project + one person have inspired me and many others who share
the dream of reviving education In today’s grassroots. One project =
#Set4School pioneered by Beyond the Classroom Foundation and one person = Miss
Raquel Lily Jacobs. So, lets take a trip to Ladi-Lak primary school Bariga,
Lagos.
I know I attended a government
school famous for its abandoned infrastructures, but the first time I got an
invite from Raquel to volunteer in Ladi-Lak, my expression was “is this a
school?... are pupils inside?” well, the answer to my two impulse questions was
“yes”. Today, with passion and dedication of the Beyond the classroom
volunteers the pupils are having a life. For the first time there were
extracurricular activities and fun learning; then I remember my favourites the
debate team scaling all through to the finals in the national competition. Then
for the first time too, there was a proper graduation ceremony and lest I
forget Modupe’s readers club that achieved its purpose of restoring the reading
culture in the pupils.
2013/2014 graduating pupils
A little insight to beyond the
Classroom Foundation:
OUR VISION
To
ensure every child in Africa has access to quality education
OUR MISSION
To
coordinate resources, and volunteers to transform early childhood education
through creative initiatives that would empower underprivileged children.
Remember the one person? Miss
Raquel Lily Jacobs. I love spelling her name as ‘Racquel’. She is one of two
great and passionate leaders I’ve worked with who love what they do first being
Edmund Samuel back in AIESEC Enugu. She puts her team’s interest first, jokes
and gets serious too. The first time we met was at last years’ #BackToSchool
where school kits were distributed to over 500 pupils in preparation for
resumption. I remember very well she gave every volunteer a hug and asked their
names. For every smile I saw in a kid, behind it was a passion to excel come
next academic year and this was pioneered by one person Raquel.
this is Miss Raquel
That was last year. This year,
beyond the classroom is launching another #Set4School for 650 pupils of
Ladi-Lak primary school Bariga Lagos. Here’s a breakdown per pupil:
1. 1 SCHOOL BAG
2. 2 PAIRS OF SOCKS
3. 6 NOTEBOOKS
4. WRITING KIT
5. UNIFORM:
6. SANDAL
7. WATER BOTTLE
Donate
N3,000 each and help 650 children of Ladi Lak Primary school bariga get#Set4School
You can donate the above listed items too.
We did it last year, we’ll do
better with your support this year. Support us
Bank details:
Account Details: Beyond the Classroom Foundation: 0156569070.
GTB.
Proud to Volunteer with this team
of dedicated, passionate and creatively excellent family pioneered by an
Extraordinary Visionary.#iVolunteer
Education
has long existed before the introduction of the stereotype teacher – student -
classroom format and also transcended beyond that. The world at large is a territory
waiting to be explored, learned and understood. The people-people behavior
translated social or behavioral sciences; its history and beauty translated
into Arts, humanities and history, Animals and Plants into Zoology and our
creative ability to innovate and mechanize labour we call technology.
At
the early stage, there was no restriction as to who had the right to acquire
the multitude of knowledge reserves and reinstating the male-beneficial laws
sidelining the females. The big question from me is “what happened to the
females with the introduction of the stereotypic teacher–student-classroom
system” Doing a trace to history will cost us angered tangible time but we all
know (especially in Africa and other Third world countries) that issues as Culture,
Tradition, marriage and religion crept in with now disproved reasons for
theexemption of the females.
The
two-step forward to that one-step backward progress is to make educational
policies facilities friendly to females; also to the less privilege, to the
inclusive units (deaf , lame, sickle cell, blind etc.) and creative competitive
opportunities with fair and equal playing ground especially in my part of the
world (Africa and third world countries) so the woman can erase the “kitchen
syndrome” and contribute immensely to the development of the world not
excluding an avenue where the inclusive unit and less privileged are taught to
“dirty” their hands and feet in interacting with, and understanding nature’s
abundance then transforming the world youth by youth.
My interactions with
female youths and other inclusive units who hadn’t the opportunity of formal education
but are doing great and are geniuses in their field ignited my passion on the
necessity of equal access to quality formal and non-formal education. And sum
reasons I advice all youths to listen to Chimamanda Adichie’s “We should all be
feminists” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWcCobhams
“Ordinary people” http://www.mp3naija.com.ng/music/12159/Cobhams-Asuquo-Ordinary-People
and follow-up great stories like that of Malala Yousafzi advocating education
for all.
All
the stories of these people give us the courage to through advocacy and
diplomacy, convince and compel our leaders (political and otherwise) to provide
quality and equal education for the boy and girl which make us better youths
transformed into a greater generation cleaning up holes they created and
reproducing as the future the greatest generation that can ever be.
To realizing this equal
access to quality education, my suggestions are:
1.Workable plan of action on the part of
the government to harness major areas and collaborate with organizations and
institutions sharing like passion and vision.
2.Drafting and adopting local contents
unique to our environment that can be transformed to global standards and
enhance educational life
3.All stakeholders in the educational
system should synergize with the government and seek creative measures to
lighten the burden of the government. With this collaboration, the system will
gather positive momentum.
4.Willingness on the part of the
individual to be active in these processes and transform his/her creative
energy towards development and growth.
5.Make curriculums creative and fun to
accommodate hidden talents in other aspects of the student life.
6.Make education free at the basic level,
and affordable at the tertiary level and easily accessible for all youths.
7.Think tanks, conferences, campaigns etc.
championed by youths (male and female) to develop measures, resolutions and
policies towards education. This is the more reason I am happy about the World
Conference on Youth 2014 in Sri-Lanka.
I
will love to summarize with famous quotes from my role model Nelson Mandela
that: “Education is the best weapon with which we can change the world” and “it
always seems impossible until it is done”
See you at the World
Conference on Youth (WCY Sri-Lanka 2014) register in any of the categories here.
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