The Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative (AREAi) has received a $12,000 grant from the Roddenberry Foundation to increase access to quality education for children in Nigeria.

AREAi engages innovation and technology to ensure access to quality learning, vocational, entrepreneurship and life-skills training for children in underserved and remote communities in the country.

The nonprofit currently implementing four project aimed at increasing access to education for children through a technology-enabled foundational skills development programme, a digital skills accelerator for women and girls and an exam bursary fund.

‘With this support, [AREAi] will continue its good work of leveraging digital technologies and human-centred innovations to bring evidence-based ideas to improve access to quality education for all children’ AREAi tweeted.

Despite the fact that primary education is free for all citizens across the 36 states and federal capital territory (FCT), Nigeria still has one of the highest out of school children rate in the world.

‘We are unequivocally committed to ensuring the right to every child, regardless of who or where, to a [quality education]. Let [us] continue to facilitate [learning without barriers]’, AREAi Executive Director, Prince Gideon Olanrewaju, said.

Data from the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) shows that about 10.5 million children aged five to 14 years are not in school; only 61 percent of six to 11 year-olds regularly attend primary school; and only 35.6 percent of children aged 36 to 59 months receive early childhood education in Nigeria.

UNICEF also noted that in north-eastern Nigeria, 2.8 million children are in need of education-in-emergencies support in three conflict-affected states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa.

Research also shows that Nigeria’s educational system is in a crises of infrastructural decay, neglect, waste of resources and sordid conditions of service.

Photo source: AREAi