100,000 Out of School Children (OOSC) in Nigeria including girls and children living with disabilities, will receive educational support from a ground-breaking partnership between the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and Save the Children alongside other partners including, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and the Kaduna State Ministry of Education.
This development was made known in a press release dated May 5, 2024, exclusively obtained by CEOAFRICA. According to the statement, “the Reaching Out-of-School Children in Kaduna State project (ROOSC) will employ a multi-tiered approach to address critical barriers to education the region.”
Aimed at solving the many obstacles of Nigeria such as economic challenges, instability, insecurity, and inequality as well as barriers to education which are insufficient funding, poor infrastructure, lack of trained teachers, and inadequate access, Kaduna State is the target population of this educational support. From the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics in 2020, an estimated 535,353 children in the state were out of school, ranking Kaduna as one of the states with the largest number of OOSC in Nigeria.
“The ROOSC project is a testimony of the partners’ commitment to investing in education, not only to increase enrolment and retention rates but also to contribute to reducing poverty and broader socio-economic development,” the statement said.
Speaking about the partnership, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, Fahad Al Sulaiti said: “Strong partnerships that deliver relevant and effective interventions are the pillars that will build the pathway to educational transformation in Nigeria. By joining forces, we can provide children with the opportunity to thrive and grow towards a brighter future through equitable and inclusive education.”
On his part, the Director General (DG) of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), Dr Hiba Ahmed stated, “ISFD is proud to be part of this international partnership addressing the education needs of out-of-school children in Kaduna State, Nigeria. This initiative aligns perfectly with ISFD's mission of empowering and developing communities in need through quality education. By working collaboratively with our partners, we can provide children with the tools and knowledge they need to reach their full potential and contribute to the development of their communities.”
When interviewed, the CEO of Save the Children, Inger Ashing, expressed the honour to work with the partners involved in the project, “to ensure that even in the most difficult circumstances, children can fulfil their right to a safe, inclusive and quality education.” He added that “time and again children tell us how important their learning is – to their wellbeing and development in the present, but also in equipping them for the future. We face a global crisis in school access and learning, therefore coming together for this programme provides a critical opportunity for the children of Nigeria.”
Over the span of four years, the partnership will focus on four objectives which are, improving access and retention, quality of teaching and learning, learning environments, and education management. To reach these objectives, the project, also with support from the Qatar Fund For Development, will be structured into five components and deliver interventions to ensure inclusion, community mobilisation, teacher training, quality assurance, flexible learning opportunities, psychosocial support, child protection, and the provision of teaching materials.
The Education Above All (EAA) Foundation is a global foundation established in 2012 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. It aims to transform lives through education, believing that education is the single most effective means of reducing poverty, creating peaceful and just societies, unlocking the full potential of every child and youth, and creating the right conditions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a shared commitment to ending the world’s learning crisis. We mobilize partners and funds to support nearly 90 lower-income countries to transform their education systems so that every girl and boy can get the quality education they need to unlock their full potential and contribute to building a better world.
Established in 2007, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) is the poverty alleviation arm of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) with a resolute mission to combat poverty and promote inclusive and equitable growth. ISFD provides the necessary financial support in the form of concessional finance and grants to improve the productive capacity and sustainable means of generating income for the poor, promote human capital development, and economically empower women & youth in member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). On the other hand, Save the Children UK (legal name the Save the Children Fund) was founded in London, England in 1919 by Eglantyne Jebb and her sister Dorothy Buxton as an effort to alleviate starvation of children in Germany and Austria-Hungary during the Allied blockade of Germany of World War I. Its ambition is a world in which every child has the right to survive, learn and be protected as well as the belief that every child deserves the chance of a future.
