Teach for Nigeria celebrates 5yrs of educational growth, impact
Posted by Ahmed Iyanda | 3 years ago | 1,059 times
Teach for Nigeria, a non-profit organisation focused on developing a movement of leaders across the nation who are committed to putting an end to educational inequity by placing them to teach in underserved schools in low-income communities celebrated its five years anniversary on Wednesday, February 9, 2022.
Folawe Omikunle, the Chief Executive Officer of Teach for Nigeria in her speech expressed her joy for the success recorded by the organisation so far within the first five years.
"Over the last five years, it has been a privilege to work with hundreds of dedicated individuals who have been inspired by the vision, mission and values of Teach For Nigeria. As we celebrate our first five years as a community, we remember the millions of tiny steps that many people have taken to get Teach For Nigeria to where it is today."
Omikunle recounted the acheivenents the organisation has recorded within five years. " While reflecting on this significant milestone, we wanted to share our five most important lessons so far. These lessons inspire and show our optimism for the future of our work, which we hope to continue with all of you for many more years to come."
According to the CEO, to achieve transformative results, the organization need to do things differently. "Reaching the point where all children attain the quality of education and opportunity they need to fulfil their potential will require us to collectively rethink the goal of education, raise the bar high, disrupt the status quo until we have an education that is fully serving our children."
Omikunle disclosed that the vision and some of the motivation that led to the birth of Teach for Nigeria is the burden to see every child in Nigeria get excellent education by developing and mobilising teachers to ensure educational equity in the country.
“Teach for Nigeria is focused on developing a movement of leaders across the nation who are committed to putting an end to educational inequity,” Omikunle said.
She reiterated that Teach for Nigeria is committed to recruiting able teachers who are willing and able to teach anywhere in the country as their contributions to eradicating illiteracy in Nigeria.
According to Omikunle, “Teach for Nigeria recruits Nigeria’s brightest and most outstanding future leaders from varied disciplines to teach in Nigeria’s underserved schools in low-income communities through a highly selective, two-year fellowship.”
She explained that the approach of the organisation is a long time change system geared towards developing a strong education system and grooming the best hands in the business of knowledge transfer in Nigeria.
Omikunle revealed that Teach for Nigeria is projected to raise more than 20,000 teachers in the next 5years. Already the group has over 245 alumni across the country.
"As of today, what is most exciting for us is our work towards our collective vision: By 2031, we will have a network of over twenty thousand leaders across all geopolitical zones in Nigeria working in deep partnership with local communities to impact over a million students each year. Collectively, we will ensure our students, regardless of socioeconomic background, attain excellence, fulfil their potential, and become leaders of themselves and their communities."
"Realising this vision will require every single person to play a role in addressing the problem of educational inequity in Nigeria, and we need you now, more than ever to achieve this together," she said.
On her part, Alero Ayida-Otobo, a board member of Teach for Nigeria in her address applauded the CEO for pragmatism and her power of possibilities philosophy that has taken the organisation to an enviable height today as it were.
“I want to say that I’m really glad that I have Folawe on the team. Sometimes you have to feel the impact to appreciate the efforts. We are where we are today because one life is touched.
Every child impacted in another 10 years becomes an adult that can impact others. This is what is called a phenomenal increase. Speaking when the organisation started, she noted that all to succeed is to take the first step, just as the Chinese proverbs stated.
She recounted the ugly state of the country’s education system in 2016 when the idea was being incubated. We had a 60percent of children in Nigeria primary schools that were not learning.
It is obvious that with the pace Teach for Nigeria is going, by 2031, the organization would have reached a network of over twenty thousand leaders across all geopolitical zones in Nigeria working in deep partnership with local communities to impact over a million students each year.
