The Rochas Care Nigeria (RCN) has concluded plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some northern NGOs on implementation of a back-to-school programme for about five million out-of-school children from the zone.
The Director-General of the foundation, Alhaji Salisu Sabo, made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.
He said that the novel school enrolment programme, with approval and funding from the Chairman and Founder, Sen. Okorocha Rochas, was aimed at bridging the huge education gap in the North.
According to him, the back-to-school programme, which would be flagged-off on March 20 at Wudi Local Government area of Kano State, was targetted at taking vulnerable children from their homes and streets back to the classrooms.
The director-general said: “This is against the backdrop of the recent national statistics which revealed that more than 14 million children of northern origin are out of school due to financial challenges or circumstances.
“This will, among other benefits, ensure that children from the northern part of the country can compete effectively, especially in terms of quality of education and quantity of the educated, with their southern counterparts in the near future.
“Therefore, to ensure a seamless, hitch-free and inclusive process, the Rochas Care Nigeria has concluded plans to sign an MoU to collaborate with about three northern NGOs to help ensure the credibility of the process for optimal results.
“The collaborating NGOs are Arewa Youths Consultative Council (AYCC), Community Orphans and Vulnerable Support Care (COVSC) and Space Community Development Initiative (SCDI),” he said.
According to him, the three NGOs represent the three geopolitical zones of North-East, North-West and North Central, adding that they are saddled with the task of overseeing and appraising the entire process right from the flag-off date.
Sabo maintained that the educational development and transformational programmes were in line with the vision of the founding fathers of Nigeria.
He said that the organization was presently working on comprehensive modalities and plans for the immediate enrolment of children into school, with support from Rochas Foundation, administering Rochas schools in the country.
“It goes without saying that Sen. Okorocha had, in the last two decades, established 13 schools across the country, which it funds and operates mostly on scholarship basis and at no cost to the benefitting students.
“Hence, he is determined to arrest the ugly state of education in the country for which the North has become known as the worst hit zone in Nigeria.
“He has also noted with concern that educational backwardness in the North has been further compounded by the twin problems of poverty and insurgency,” Sabo said.
NAN
