Children Just Want to Know that Someone Cares About Them and We Do– Edu4Africa
This Education focused nonprofit works to increase access to quality education for children
One of the major factors that cause and contribute to the gap between the lower class and the middle and upper class of society is education. The level of exposure and opportunities that quality education brings to a person’s life can be life-changing. For underprivileged people in developing countries, this education can enable them to rise from the lower economic class to the middle class.
In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, the presence of just one well-educated person in a family is enough to impact the income and standard of living of that family. The provision of quality education is one of the solutions to the high level of poverty in underprivileged communities all around the country. Sadly, there are still over 10 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, according to UNICEF.
Additionally, the quality of education in many of the primary and secondary schools in the country is subpar and inadequate to prepare young minds to catch up with the fast-paced technology-driven world of today. The need to integrate more children into the educational system and improve the quality of education the system provides is more critical than ever. It is with this realization that Ibiwari Jaja Praiseworth and her team at the Education for Africa Foundation work creatively and tirelessly to improve the quality of education available to underprivileged children.
The Lifelong Impact of Quality Education
As someone who struggled academically when she was a child, Jaja Praiseworth felt the impact of intentional and supportive teachers who helped her unlock her potential and excel at school.
In an interview with The Baseline, she recounted how her personality and self-confidence improved due to the support of those great teachers in her life. Quoting the famous educator, Rita F. Pierson, she said:
“Every child deserves a champion — an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.“
This impact left a mark on her all through her schooling years as she always excelled and found herself teaching and mentoring others in the University.
During her service year (NYSC), she embarked on a community development project called Project Read which focused on enlightening public secondary school students on the importance of reading as a lifelong skill. She worked on the project alongside other corps members and they donated books to the libraries of the schools they visited in Ibadan, Oyo state.
Implementing the project opened her eyes to the gaps in the Educational system and she met many children struggling to learn in schools that were in bad condition and schools providing substandard education. This experience made her realize that many children in Nigeria lack access to the kind of quality education and support they need to be fully functional adults in the future. Jaja Praiseworth then decided to found the Education for Africa Foundation (Edu4Africa) to provide quality education to underprivileged children and equip them with skills that will enable them to earn a living and be up to date with the world.
Setting Up and Empowering Students
After her service year, she started volunteering at existing NGOs in Abuja to gain experience in the social action space. According to Jaja Praiseworth, she had put the foundation on hold then while she was working for other organizations.
Then in late 2018, she decided to get back to building Edu4Africa. She registered the NGO and she put things in place for the organization to run smoothly.
She recounted certain challenges she faced while starting out such as building a structure for the organization and recruiting the right people for the foundation as it was hard finding people to resonate with her passion. However, things became easier over time with the support of her husband and passionate volunteers who joined her and contributed to the creation of the organization’s brand, website, project ideas, and operations.
After the organization was fully set up, Jaja Praiseworth and her team launched their flagship
project tagged the Backpack project which was a back-to-school fundraising campaign where they donated learning materials and school supplies to over 90 students across 3 public secondary schools in Lagos, Nigeria. Then they had the Education Fest project to commemorate The International Day of Education, they visited Heritage Homes Orphanage in Lagos. There they enlightened the children on unconventional career paths they can embark on with a basic level of education — such as O-level education — in today’s world like tech jobs, entrepreneurship, creative industry jobs, and much more.
While enlightening the children of the Heritage Homes Orphanage, the Edu4Africa team realized that the children had a large knowledge gap. So, they launched the Upskill learning hub inside the orphanage in April 2023. The learning hub was designed to cater to the educational needs and interests of the children. During their programs in the hub, they covered different topics like career skills, tech skills, vocational skills, and other subjects the children needed to learn. Due to the success of the learning hub, Edu4Africa plans to replicate the Upskill learning program in public secondary schools across Lagos
When asked what her most memorable moments are from all the activities of the nonprofit, Jaja Praiseworth said:
“Talking with the students, every outreach we have, every program we have, where we get to interact with the students, just to hear them and listen to them just increases the burden in our hearts to do more … Those are memorable moments for me.
Bonding with the children of the Heritage homes for the period of 7 weeks [as] that was how long the Upskill Learning Hub was. It was a very precious moment for me and my team.”
In terms of achievements, she said:
“Every child whose life we’ve been able to impact is our biggest accomplishment. Children most times just want to know that someone cares about them and that’s why we are here at Edu4Africa. We care.”
Moving Forward
The Education For Africa Foundation’s tagline is “To do right by every child,” and its goal is to improve quality education for thousands of children in Nigeria. The foundation aims to expand to other countries sometime in the future. But presently, it has several projects and programs curated to improve access to quality education in Nigeria and ensure children are well-educated and not just schooled.
The foundation recently launched its latest endeavor called The Upgrade Project. It is a project focused on refurbishing 4 deteriorated classrooms in two public secondary schools in Lagos State. The goal is to renovate and upgrade the classrooms to create a conducive learning environment for hundreds of students in the schools. The Edu4Africa team plans to fix the roofs, doors, windows fans, and whiteboard and also paint the classrooms.
The foundation is seeking donations as a target of 2 million Naira is needed to execute this project. The project is scheduled to be implemented in August 2023. Click here to support the project
The Edu4Africa team also runs several advocacy campaigns, such as the Leverage Campaign where Industry experts share their stories and how they appreciate the role education played in their lives.
To stay updated on the programs and activities of the Edu4Africa team, check out their blog and sign up for their newsletter.
