… 40,000 proprietors to give scholarships to 10 children each per year
THE National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools has revealed its willingness to reduce out-of-school children by four per cent annually.
Each of the 40,000 proprietors on the NAPPS platform will give 10 indigent children scholarships for three consecutive years, according to the association.
This was disclosed on Monday by the National President of the association, Yomi Otubela, during a virtual meeting in commemoration of the 2020 Annual National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) Day, with the theme, ‘’Digital Revolution As a Tool In Revamping Nigeria’s Education in Post COVID-19 Era’’.
He said the association was committed to removing a minimum of 400,000 children from the streets each year to complement the Federal Government’s efforts.
While applauding the Federal Government’s efforts at increasing access to school, the president said NAPPS viewed, with grave concern, the increasing population of out-of-school children in the country, which he said had been a source of worry to the country.
He noted that this was particularly worsened by the fact that the Child Rights Act had not been effective, owing to the fact that it had not been passed into law by some states.
“For instance, a situation where the rate of out-of-school children is as high as over 10.5million children as captured through the survey conducted by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) portends a sad development for our quest to increase the literacy rate in the country,” Otubela noted.
He, however, said NAPPS had decided and communicated its strong decision to partner with the Federal Ministry of Education in proffering solution.
“Therefore, it is the unanimous decision of the national executives of NAPPS that each of about 40,000 proprietors in NAPPS shall oblige to award scholarships to a target of ten (10) indigent children per year for a consecutive three (3) years,” he said.
On school reopening, the president appreciated the supportive role played by Nigerian parents and various stakeholders to ensure that teaching and learning for their children were maintained safely through various virtual learning platforms during the closure of schools, and even after the reopening of schools, by ensuring children’s compliance with the laid down COVID -19 safety protocols.
“In the same vein, we appreciate the intervention and role of the Federal Government in ensuring the safe reopening of schools throughout the country which was justifiably closed to prevent the further spread of the COVID-19,” the NAPPS president added.
Saying that the selected theme for this year’s NAPPS Day was appropriate, Otubela stressed that it gave an insight into the plethora of challenges school owners had to confront in the past months, which he said had, indeed, reshaped the way things were done.
He added, “You would agree with me that this year has been unusually challenging for school owners and individuals as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, which unfortunately led to the closure of schools in a bid to contain the spread of the virus.
“It was even reported that over 1.2 billion children worldwide were out of the classrooms in the wake of the pandemic. The situation, which eventually gave rise to the digital revolution through remote learning as the alternative means of teaching and learning to contain the spread of the Coronavirus infection within the school environment.”
