Oando Foundation (referred to as “the Foundation”), an independent charity founded in 2011 to support the Nigerian Government in achieving its Universal Basic Education goals, is pleased to announce the commemoration of its tenth (10th) year anniversary on February 4, 2021.
The Foundation was established in 2011 by Oando PLC, Nigeria’s leading indigenous energy solutions provider, with a mission to radically improve the quality of teaching and learning in Nigerian public primary schools by ensuring access to world class basic education systems.
Our vision is to create a sustainable and successful educational system in Nigeria that educates and empowers children. Rooted in our belief that the future of the nation and Africa depends on our investment in human capital is also the realization that children represent the future and basic education in Nigeria needs support and intervention from the private sector, as the Government alone cannot bridge the gap in access to quality education across all levels.
Over the last 10 years and through our flagship Adopt-A-School Initiative (AASI), the Foundation has demonstrated its commitment to actualizing every child’s right to quality education by working with multi-layered stakeholders, using integrative and participatory approaches to increase learning opportunities for children in public primary schools in marginalized communities across Nigeria. The AASI is an integrated and holistic school improvement mode that comprises infrastructural development, teacher training, digital literacy, early childcare education, scholarships, stakeholder/community capacity building and other programmes geared towards improving access to quality education.
Commenting on the landmark celebration, Adekanla Adegoke, Head, Oando Foundation said: “The celebration of our 10th anniversary presents a unique opportunity to reflect on the journey so far – our successes, challenges, lessons, and impact. We also consider it a time to deeply appreciate all who have supported the Foundation’s work in diverse ways through the decade; especially our employees (past and present), Board of Trustees, partners, sponsors, volunteers, mentors, Federal, State and Local Government Education officials, and programme beneficiaries for their invaluable support and collaboration in the execution of our strategic objectives. As an organization we have evolved, rising to the challenge where cynics abound, exercising faith in the possibility of a transformed public education system; working and collaborating intentionally to see this become a reality. Today, we may not be nearer the end of our nation’s educational challenges, but we can proudly join others to say that Oando Foundation has indeed made a difference. We look forward to the next decade with great hope and a ren renewed commitment to do more.”
Our theory of change is predicated on the belief that improving the quality of basic education in Nigeria requires a multifaceted approach focused on whole school development, deploying an ongoing engagement with adopted schools for several years, rather than a one-off donation experience. This approach has led to our successful adoption of 88 schools across the nation, building and renovating 249 classrooms and Early Childcare Centers, enrolling 60,955 out-of-school children (OOSC) with a cumulative retention rate of 77%, the establishment of 39 ICT centers, upskilling 2,832 teachers and 210 headteachers via our teacher training programme, empowering local communities to support school improvement processes, to name a few.
The sustainability of Oando Foundation’s Adopt-A-School model is hinged on effective community engagement and stakeholder partnerships both locally and internationally. Notable amongst these are partnerships with Japanese based company Sumitomo Chemical Company to establish ICT Centres in public primary schools across Nigeria; Educate A Child to support the enrollment of out-of-school children; The Education Partnership, amongst others.
Commenting on the milestone celebration, Dr. Adeyemi Adeyemi, Implementing Partner, said, “It’s with pleasure that we celebrate Oando Foundation at 10. We are implementing partners to the Foundation across 6 states of the Federation – Kwara, Sokoto, Katsina, Ekiti, Kaduna and Plateau States. The Foundation has done and continues to do so much across these states all towards making the school environment safe for learners. They provide capacity building for teachers to improve their teaching skills, enable community members demand accountability as well as support school improvement programmes. They are building infrastructure including boreholes, toilets and wash bays. One of the benefits of the sanitation projects they implemented is that it ensured we adopted regular handwashing practice even before the COVID-19 pandemic, all as a result of the foresight of the Foundation. We are proud to be a part of their success story.”
Xiaou Shubata, from Sumitomo Chemical, Tokyo Japan said, “We thank Oando Foundation for their partnership with us to in realizing our wish of improving the education standards for children in Africa. We have built centres for computer education through this partnership and provided children in Nigeria with much-needed ICT skills and knowledge. Our latest project – Clean Our World – is geared towards helping children in Lagos learn about environmental issues and utilize plastic waste for recycling to make their neighborhoods cleaner and safer. Happy 10th year anniversary Oando Foundation.”
Another partner, Educate A Child Foundation, represented by Yassin, the Technical Director, complimented the Foundation, saying, “On behalf of the Education Above All Foundation and Educate a Child programme, I would like to congratulate Oando Foundation on its 10th year anniversary. We are very proud to have partnered with Oando Foundation on a project to enroll over 60,000 out-of-school children in Nigeria and by the end of the project we were able to keep 80% of these children in the school. Together we provided training to over 2,800 teachers, over 1,700 community members, and over 340 school supervisors. Over the past 3 years, our projects have enabled the construction of 118 toilets, 25 water points, and refurbished 37 schools. Again, congratulations Oando Foundation on your 10th year anniversary and we wish you all the very best as you continue to provide education for the most marginalized children.”
Modupe Olateju, Managing Director, The Education Partnership (TEP) said, “It is a real pleasure to celebrate the achievement of Oando Foundation over the last 10 years of its existence. My colleagues and I had the distinct pleasure of supporting the Foundation in 2013 and we have continued to work in close alignment with them since then. The Foundation’s excellent work in education is felt by thousands of teachers and learners they are supporting across Nigeria. I wish the Foundation many more years and decades of impact.”
In commemoration of its anniversary, the Foundation announced the revamp of its website and the inclusion of new features, all of which can be found by visiting www.oandofoundation.org; furthermore, over the last 10 years the Foundation has made the following impact in the Nigerian education sector:
1. Adopted 88 schools nationwide
2. Enrolled 60,955 out-of-school children (OOSC) with a cumulative retention rate of 77%
3. Built and renovated 249 classrooms and 5 Early Childcare Centers
4. Reduced levels of truancy (teacher and student) through the construction of potable water supply and sanitation facilities, including 118 toilets, 35 motorized boreholes and 26 wash bays to support sanitation and hygiene amongst children
5. Improved Digital literacy and learning through the establishment 39 ICT centers supporting increased access to learning with educational software
a. In partnership with Government Education Managers, we upskilled 2,832 teachers and 210 headteachers via our teacher’ training programme improving their subject content knowledge and pedagogical practices.
6. Distributed over 25,000 teaching and learning aids
7. Provided support to 1,731 School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) members, 212 Education Management Information System (EMIS) officers and 170 school support officers, improving their functionality through education data management and evidence-based planning.
8. Awarded 1,153 scholarships to brilliant, under-served children from our adopted schools to transit and complete secondary school.
Speaking on the future plans of the Foundation, Adekanla Adegoke, said, “Today, we are faced with a new set of challenges occasioned by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovery of the education sector would necessitate positive disruptions to the status quo. We recognize the urgent need for increased allocation of public resources and the unique role organized private sector can play through strategic partnerships that leverage technical expertise and resource mobilization opportunities. Synergy among all stakeholders – government, private sector and civil society is critical for mutual accountability, optimizing economies of scale, and avoiding duplication of efforts across all levels. Oando Foundation remains committed to strategically engaging government on emerging opportunities for large-scale impact, accelerating digital learning opportunities in our schools, deepening direct programme interventions, strengthening partnerships and advocacy efforts, and scaling existing initiatives for more impact.”
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