Our correspondent, Eyitayo Aluko visited the rented apartment being used by Oluwayemisi Olanrewaju, the administrator of Gateway Model schools; a low-income school in Ilo-Ijesha, a suburb community in Ilesha, Osun State, Nigeria in providing education to impoverished children.
Yemisi; a trained teacher and a registered member of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria uses Gateway schools is reducing disparities in access to educational opportunities in the community. While on a tour of the premises, it was glaring that Yemisi’s passion for providing education to the vulnerable and underprivileged children is unquantifiable.
Over the years, these disparities in access to education in Nigeria have led to dismal outcomes with far-reaching consequences, not just for individual kids, but for the society as a whole as they hamper social mobility, exacerbate income inequality, and stifle economic growth.
Oluwayemisi recognizes that there are severe shortcomings in the educational sector in Nigeria and is committed to transforming the lives of Nigeria’s most precious resource – her children, starting the change in her community by reducing the number of children that are out of school.
Since 2015, close to 300 community children in Ilo-Ijesha have been given access to quality education. These children equally have limited access to food and health. Therefore, Gateway Model school is ensuring that these children aside being provided with basic education get a meal daily. This school feeding programme has brought about retention and an increase in student enrolment.
Furthermore, aside, providing learning opportunities, Oluwayemisi encourages her students to engage in different livelihood/service skills training that will help them to have a sustainable job and have an income generating activities outside school.
Yemisi said: I am motivated by a saying of Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo (a Nigerian Nationalist and statesman) “The children of the poor you failed to train will never let your children have peace”, referring to the wealthy in the society. I envision a community and Nigeria at large where every child has access to quality education, good health, and a safe and happy home. Therefore, now is the time to bridge the gap of educational inequity by ensuring adequate funding of the education sector.
“I who was born in a suburb in Osun State, Nigeria where the nearest school to the town took over 2 hours to commute. I had to stay with a relative whose house was closer to the school so as to have access to education. Unfortunately, some of my mates weren’t opportuned. While some ended up on farmlands, some girls were sent to cities to work as helps where abuses were inevitable and few ended up with early pregnancies.
“After my degree programme, I returned to my community to make a difference by leading the change especially for the girl child. I enrolled in a professional diploma course in ]education and also joined Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria. Thereafter, I registered a primary school; Gateway Model School where I currently serve as the administrator.
When asked about why she is passionate and grossly engaged with providing access to education, she said:
“Over the years, I have come to realise that Education is one of the most powerful weapon in fighting poverty. It changes lives; I know that because it changed mine. No child should be denied the transformative power of education which is a fundamental rights of an individual.
“That is why I provide almost free education to children in my community. I ensure that the needed materials are made available, make provision for buses to convey pupils to and fro school and feed the pupils at the basic level a meal per day.
Continuing, Yemisi spoke about how she haw been able to keep the gatea of her school open. She noted that “providing access to education and free feeding with meagre resources has been challenging as i leverage on support from my inner circle but i am committed to the course and will rest on my oars. I am committed to fostering equity, inclusion, and equality for both girls and boys my community.
“I aspire to build my school to secondary school ao my students can obtain secondary school leaving certificates. Though I have the accreditation and have commenced the Junior Secondary School but I aspire to have the Senior secondary school so my students can obtain secondary school leaving certificates, this does come easy, however, am ready to go the extra mile to give my students the extra that is needed”.
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