A Lagos-based Non-Government Organisation (NGO), Smiles for Orphans and Vulnerable Children Initiative, at an event to mark this year’s International Day of Education held in collaboration with the Faculty of Education, Lagos State University (LASU) at the University Campus, Ojo, kitted up some indigent pupils from public primary and secondary schools within the Iba LCDA in Ojo.
Speaking at the occasion at the event, the Founder and Team Lead of the organisation, Euriel Momah said that the act was part of the SOVCI Streets To School Project which aims at supporting poor and vulnerable children in schools.
Momah also said that the vision was born out of the conviction that failure to educate a child is to impoverish him/her and make him/her vulnerable thereby, exposing the child to all forms of exploitation.
He decried the high rate of out-of-school pupils in Nigeria which is put at over 20 million and said that more needs to be done by all stakeholders to see that this category of children are identified and empowered to go to school.
The SOVCI Streets To School Project not only aims at enrolling out-of-school pupils but also ensuring that the poor and indigent ones already in school do not drop out as a result of lack of support.
“This is why we seek to identify such pupils to give them necessary support,” Momah said.
Speaking on the theme of this year’s celebration, ‘Learning for Lasting Peace,’ the keynote speaker at the event, E. L Adebayo, a professor, touched on the important role that learning plays in promoting peace within the society.
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