Education Scholarships for Destitute Children

Education is the foundation of any progressive society.It is responsible for the economic, social;and political growth, as well as the general development of society. In fact, the thread of societal growth depends largely upon the quality of education within it. Thus, schools play an important role in moulding a nation’s future by facilitating all round development of its future citizens.Children are the future of any country and need adequate attention and care.

Although, free basic education is enshrined in the Nigerian constitution and huge budgetary allocations are made towards it, heavily supported by foreign aid; paradoxically the rate of school dropouts is on the increase consequent on lack of access for the Nigerian child.  The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report estimates that there are about 13.2 million children out of school in Nigeria, most of which are in Northern Nigeria. The report shows Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children in the world.[1]This challenge calls for urgent and collective action.

Consequently, theCOFP Foundation, as part of its vision and mission, and in response to this huge gap in the Nigerian educational sector ensures that every child within her reach gets access to education through SAVE THE CHILD scholarship program that was geared towards combating the menace of out of school amongst the Nigerian child. 12 schools and 54 pupils both from primary and secondary within the FCT Abuja in January 2020 benefited from the scholarship programof COFP for the second term of 2019/2020 academic year.The families of thebeneficiaries have shown gratitude with the scheme and have testified to the good performance of their children in school from their results, which of course is a criterion for review of the scholarship.     

Some of the students in Junior Secondary Schools have been enjoying the scholarship program from their primary school level and the Foundation has awarded them another scholarship through their secondary school education as a result of their good performance.

[1]Voice of America “UN: In Nigeria More Than 13 Million School-age Children Out of School” @www.voanews. December 11, 2018.