Rotary, partners take out-of-school children back to classroom

L-r… Pioneer District 9112 Governor, RTN Olufemi Adenekan; Pioneer Chairman, Basic Education Literacy Committee District 9112 Rotarian International past President, Agboola Olushola; Director School Mobilization Lagos, State School Improvement Team. (SUBEB) Mr. Tesileem Amusat,  during the Bringing 500 out of School Children Back to School organised by Rotary District 9112 Partner with the US held at Ajegunle in Lagos on 6/2/2025…Photo :Chinyere Ikeanyi.

Rotary International District 9112 has kicked off an initiative towards eradicating illiteracy in Lagos state by taking 500 out-of-school children back to the classroom. Rotary is doing this in partnership alongside its partners with the support of Lagos State Government.

Speaking at Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA, Ajegunle where the empowerment exercise took place, Pioneer District Governor, Rotary International, District 9112 Rtn, Olufemi Adenekan, said, “We are here to return back to school 500 pupils of primary schools across Lagos state. We did the first one in Mushin Local government where we have about 12 local governments. Here again, we have over 8 local governments to return at least 500 pupils back to school”.

Rtn Adenekan said that this initiative is with the support of the Lagos state government, and it is one of the special focuses of Rotary International. “We have 7 areas of focus and basic education and literacy is one of them. We can only do this in our community with the support clubs. The Rotary International is organising this event to ensure that we return out of school pupils back to school. We have equipped them with writing materials and other important tools they need to be able to do well in school. This is what we have done and we will continue to do that. I want to thank all the Rotarians and clubs that have supported the District in this initiative. And we do hope that more of this will be done in the future”.

On the challenges facing the initiative, Rtn Adenekan said, “One of the challenges is the children being encouraged to attend school, and another major one is funding. We need funding to continue. We are undaunted by the situation because we want to make sure that we do what is right. Again, mobilisation for children that are not in school. We want to identify and support Lagos state primary education board”.

In addition, past pioneer President and pioneer Chairman, the Basic Education and Literacy Committee, District 9112 Rotary International, Agboola Olushola, said, “We gathered here to return out-of-school pupils to school. Two weeks ago, we also organised a programme for 200 of them where we gave them school bags, note books, mathematics sets and other writing materials including T-shirts to start school. Today again, we have done another 200 making it 400 while the remaining 100 will be done in Ogun state because the initiative was to empower a total of 500 out-of-school pupils”.

Olushola further said that due to the importance of the initiative to the future of our children, the programme will continue.

“Rotary is 120 years old and this is one aspect of Rotary initiatives, it has been running such programmes and others for 120 years. Next year there will be another such programme. Apart from this initiative of bringing back out-of-school children to school, the rotary has been the one paying for polio vaccination. It also organises sports to keep people healthy. We also have a water and sanitation programme, and I can boldly tell you that within this regime alone, Rotary has sunk more than 30 boreholes across Lagos state.

Today we have 30 schools across 6 local governments that have benefited from this initiative”.

In the same vein, Director, of Social Mobilisation Lagos SUBEB, Amusat Tesileem Omolaja, representing the executive chairman, Doctor Akin Babatunde Shittum said, “The programme is about giving back to society. The Rotary Club, District 9112 is supporting Lagos state government to bring some out of school children back to school. So, Rotary is donating school materials for the pupils to be comfortable in their learning activities. We had the first phase of this programme on January 28, 2025, in Mushin where 200 pupils were empowered. We intend to continue because education is a big enterprise that the government cannot do alone. We also call the public to come on board and support the government”.

L-R: At the back roll,  Director Social Mobilization Lagos (SUBEB),  Mr. Amusat Tesileem Omolaja; Pioneer Chairman, Basic  Education Literacy Committee and Past President, Rotary International District 9112,  Agboola Olushola; Pioneer Governor, District 9112, RTN Olufemi Adenekan, other Rotarians with pupils empowered with school items during the bring back 500 out of school pupils to classroom organised  by Rotary International District 9112 and partners at Ajegunle, Lagos.