Education; A leverage for quality living

The impacts were massive, the joy and smiles from the students were priceless and the excitement on the announcement of the winner was overwhelming and for me, it was an indescribable joy. All these could not have been possible without the Almighty God. I really cannot fathom how He does it but He keeps doing it all. I have always wanted to be a part of societal impacts and have particularly taken an interest in maternal-child health as well as child education. During my 21 days NYSC orientation camp in Jigawa State Nigeria, I figured that this could be a great avenue to start. I joined the SDGs training group and was inducted as a Developmental Knowledge Facilitator. I was then posted to a school as my place of primary assignment where a lot of corp members and non-native speakers were challenged with communication barriers. I decided to conduct intensive coaching for fifty students, two hours twice a week. On further research into the educational status of the state, I discovered that from a survey report carried out in August 2014, by The Jigawa State Survey For Out Of School Children in collaboration with the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN), it was reported that, “In all, there were 420,680 and 400,250 out of school boys and girls aged 3-18 years in Jigawa State. The report also showed that a minimum of one reason and a maximum of 3 reasons were given for each dropout or never attended child, with the most prominent reasons of drop out or never attended school child being a financial problem (22.6%) and lack of interests by parents (13.4%); while the most prominent reasons for never attended were distance (23.9%) and lack of interest by parents (22.1%).” I want to also use this medium to laud the Jigawa State Government for their deliberate efforts and input of resources into the educational system ranging from tuition-free schools, feeding of students, providing free accommodation for boarders, and organizing workshop seminars for teachers in the state. I have been privileged to attend one of such seminars for teachers organized by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Dutse and it was indeed impactful. But more can be done by both the government, individuals and NGOs as stated thus;

Firstly, healthy interschool competitions could be organized, with prizes such as educative materials and children's food items awarded to winners and the winning school.

Secondly, enlightening and sensitization programmes on the value and importance of education in our today's world can be organized for parents and wards. This would help motivate the lack of interest by parents in education.

Furthermore,t religious and traditional rulers have a strategic role to play because they are the closest and most respected by the people. Workshops and seminars should be supported by these eminent personalities, where they will deliver speeches and outline measures that would foster and instill a learning culture in their communities.

I had discovered that under strict tutorship and mentorship, that these students would excel, but they also needed that inner self-drive. Something larger than what they have seen that can keep them motivated. I believe that if there was a reward mechanism, a platform that fosters healthy competition, and an avenue that expands their horizon, then it would enhanced the zeal for learning. I wanted to do more than teach these students how to communicate in the English Language, I wanted them to be inspired to put more effort into learning. Thus, I reached out to the team leader of the charity NGO ISmileBecauseYouSmile that is actively engaged in community service and educational projects with the sole aim of improving the quality of lives of people living in our local communities. Then, the plan began in June 2021.

In less than a week before the set day of the competition, an unplanned circumstance occurred that made our headline sponsor unable to keep up with his promise of aiding the project. But then, the project has already been publicized and fliers were out. So, calling the project off was not even an option. I and the ISmileBecauseYouSmile team had to schedule series of meetings with tasks assigned to everyone, follow-ups, feedback, etc. It was quite a very challenging week for us but as the axiom goes “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” God did it! We reached out to possible partners, our contacts, friends, and even strangers (laughing).  Three days before the event, we got another headline sponsor and some donations, by happenstance a foreign partner.

We had in attendees a total of 302 persons, which includes students, dignitaries, parents/guardians, and volunteers.

This competition done on 28th August 2021, amongst 9 schools in Roni LGA, Kazaure Zone, Jigawa State has been very impactful majorly in,

1. Emphasizing the importance of education to the host community.

2. Boosting the confidence, communication skills, and study appetite of the students.

3. Equipping the students with the tools needed to build a rich vocabulary bank.

4. Bridging the gap posed by the lack of inclusive education in the community.

5. Sensitizing and enlightening parents on the importance of education.

6. Facilitating mentorship of the students.

7. Helping to curtail the barriers in communication experienced by educators and teachers who are not native speakers in the community.

8. Encouraging school management, government, and NGOs to organize similar programs that would foster learning and healthy competitions amongst students.

I want to thank NYSC and SDGs for this great opportunity.

Thank you #ISmileBecauseYouSmile for believing and sowing into this idea.

Thank you #Elongate for the partnership.

Thank you #Worldpulse for the opportunity to share my story 

Thanks to all the volunteers and dignitaries that contributed their quota to this success, you made this happen. Thank you to everyone that donated to this project, it was a success because of every naira you gave.

Cheers to more wins and great impacts.

#IsmileBecuseYouSmile #Jigawa2021 #TheGoldenSpellingBeeCompetion #BingingBackTheBasics #QualityEducationForAll