By Elizabeth Osayande

The founder, of a non-governmental organisation, NGO, Northern Hibiscus Initiative, NHI, Aisha Falke, has stated that its quest to see Northern Nigeria be at par with her Southern counterpart in all areas, especially in education, was one of the reasons of setting a mild-Montessori school for indigent children.

Speaking at a virtual media briefing on Monday, the CEO, Northern Hibiscus Initiative, who share the vision and mission of the academy, noted that the quest for parents, especially mothers to have their wards acquire quality basic education, necessitated the call for collaboration, and support from private and public bodies to invest in the education and development of people there.

Her words:” Edu Kids Academy is project aimed at addressing the educational needs of indigent children between the ages of two to five years, by providing them with a highly subsidized basic education in a very conducive environment with modern learning facilities.

“ We started three years ago, with a pioneer population of 125 pupils from less privileged homes in the society. The Academy is one project we at Northern Hibiscus are proud to be associated with and we have resolved it must succeed. Our ultimate goal is to see northern Nigeria be at par with its southern counterpart in every aspect starting from the foundation which is education.”

“We have discovered that education is a powerful tool we can use to liberate people from the shackles of poverty. Compared to other parts of the country, the north is far behind. We are determined to bridge the gap by providing highly affordable and quality education, which we believe will help us achieve our goal in the long run. The whole idea is to catch them young that is why we have started with little children, because they are the future, we see today without them there is no tomorrow.”

“Our vision is to provide state-of-the-art learning facilities for the indigent kids. The task is quite enormous but we are committed to galvanising the much-needed support from well-meaning Nigerians, international donor organisations, and corporate bodies to key into this laudable programme which will be beneficial not just to Northern Nigeria alone, but to the entire country,” Falke remarked.

“Presently, the school is operating from a temporary site in Kano Municipal, Kano State, equipped with conducive blocks of classrooms; recreational facilities; toilet facilities; play toys; computers; educational learning aids, among others.

“So, as part of the expansion plan, we have acquired a piece of land for the permanent site in Kano, to accommodate both primary and post-primary school classes, which we hope to commence the infrastructural development as soon as we can raise the required funding. We have designed a prototype of the proposed structure we have in mind. When completed it should be able to conveniently accommodate 1,500 students at once,” Falke added.