The Chief Executive Officer of the UK charity, IA-Foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, has warned that increasing tuition in Nigerian universities could compound the crisis plaguing the country’s education sector.

Speaking against the backdrop of the increases in fees by some universities in the country, Adeagbo said that a country currently having some 20.2 million children out-of-school should have no business increasing fees in schools.

She told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja today that increasing fees of any sort should not be an option, until Nigeria came out of the woods and was able to put every child in school.“The increment in tuition in Unity Schools is unacceptable because it can lead to more children dropping out of school,’’ Adeagbo said, calling on the Federal Government to take measures to ensure that every Nigerian child acquired basic education.“The government should also introduce regulatory measures urgently to compel private schools to curb unnecessary demands on parents such as paying expensive fees for uniforms and other related items.

“The government also needs to reduce the financial entry barriers into public schools as thousands of families cannot even afford to pay basic enrollment fees.”

According to her, government needs to stay true to its promise of free basic education for all.The IA-Foundation founder said that Nigeria should improve education standards in public schools and introduce strategic communication measures to address the prevailing negative notion about education in public schools.She, however, lauded the Federal Government for inviting IA-Foundation in the just-concluded annual National Summit for NGOs Intervening in the Education Sector, hosted by the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja.

Adeagbo said that her foundation’s participation in the summit had re-energized IA-Foundation’s commitment to campaigning for every Nigerian child to have access to basic education.IA-Foundation, based in Kent in England has been campaigning vigorously to promote education in Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous nation.

The organization is mostly active in South Western Nigeria but it has been making efforts to expand its activities to other parts of Nigeria, according to the founder.

Two foreign charities have signed a memorandum of understanding to forge a partnership to offer scholarships to young Nigerians in some private universities in Nigeria.

The two charities are the UK-based IA-Foundation, which has been active in Nigeria and another charity, known as Values of Affordable Education, VOA, which is based in the U.S.

The charities are partnering to sponsor indigent students to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, STEM-related courses, “based on merit and proven financial needs”.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IA-Foundation, Ibironke Adeagbo, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday that the scholarship was to reduce dropout rate of students, eager to pursue tertiary education but constrained by funds.

“The scholarship will provide a university scholarship of up to five million naira for each beneficiary to cover tuition, accommodation, feeding and logistics throughout the four-year undergraduate study duration.

“Although students can be supported in other private universities in Nigeria, Babcook, Redeemers, Kings and Covenant universities are the preferred institutions,’’ she said.

Mr Adeagbo said that the partnership with VOA was aimed at eliminating financial barriers to university education in Nigeria and ensuring that no child was left behind in acquiring education in the 21st century.

She restated that IA-Foundation was committed to strategic partnerships to ensure that the numerous challenges facing education in Nigeria were addressed, to build a better future.

“As a young charity with over 100 children in schools across nine states in Nigeria, we are happy that more children will be able to receive quality education in science and technology courses.

Mr Adeagbo expressed her optimism that the scholarship scheme would change the lives of beneficiaries for the better and improve their socio-economic conditions forever.

Less than two weeks after its participation in a national summit for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the education sector, where it advocated reforms in basic education, IA-Foundation has joined over 2,000 delegates from over 50 African countries to discuss, collaborate and learn how to enhance sustainable development at the Africa Social Impact Summit.

IA-Foundation is a UK registered educational charity set up to transform lives through education in Nigeria and Africa.

The two-day summit, themed ‘Global Vision, Local Action: Repositioning the African Development Ecosystem for Sustainable Outcomes’, had over 50 speakers from NGOs, Corporate Social Investors (CSIs) and philanthropists that focused on different areas of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

It was organised by Sterling One Foundation in partnership with United Nations Nigeria.

Representing IA-Foundation as a delegate at the summit, Programmes and Partnerships Manager, John Klutse, alongside other delegates from the non-profit sector, called for more private sector involvement in the development sector through funding, capacity development and provision of pro-bono services.

In a conversation with a representative of United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA), Klutse expressed IA-Foundation’s vision to ensure every child gets a form of education, including formal and informal education.

In another conversation with a delegate from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Klutse appealed for the rescue of over 400 out-of-school children in the Bwari community of Abuja, who are interested in going to school but cannot pay initial enrollment fees.

He further called for intervention in the community’s infrastructure needs by constructing new classrooms, as the only two blocks of classrooms were already overcrowded with learners.