By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA — Efforts to tackle Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis gained fresh momentum as key stakeholders prepared for a high-level summit aimed at addressing barriers to education and mobilising support for vulnerable children.

The moves come amid growing concern over the millions of children still out of school as poverty, insecurity, displacement and other systemic challenges continue to limit access to education across the country.

The developments were contained in a statement by IA-Foundation, which featured remarks by its Executive Director, Ms Funke Sotinwa, and Founder, Mrs Ronke Adeagbo.

Leading the organisation’s latest push is an Executive Breakfast Summit scheduled for June 23 in Lagos, where policymakers, development partners, civil society groups, media practitioners and private sector stakeholders will examine the drivers of educational exclusion and discuss practical responses to the crisis.

The summit, themed ‘Mind the Gap: Tackling the Crisis of Out-of-School Children in Nigeria,’ will focus on the implications of the education gap for national development and the urgent need for coordinated action to reverse the trend.

A major highlight of the event will be the presentation of the Foundation’s policy white paper, ‘The Danger of the Knowledge Gap,’ which explores how poverty, insecurity, displacement and other structural challenges continue to deny millions of children access to education.

Expected participants include the Lagos State Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, senior advisers to the Lagos State Governor on the Sustainable Development Goals and human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN).

Beyond the summit, the Foundation has moved to strengthen engagement with donors and development partners through the launch of a digital stakeholder portal unveiled on June 16.

According to the organisation, the platform features a dedicated donor interface that allows stakeholders to track impact, engage directly with programmes and support initiatives more effectively.

“We are not simply changing a website. We are building a digital home that reflects the seriousness of our mission and the value we place on every stakeholder in our ecosystem.

“This portal is our commitment to radical openness, to showing our community exactly what we do, how we do it and the lives being changed in the process,” Adeagbo said.

The Foundation has also intensified its community-based interventions. On June 11, it deployed a team to Makoko to assess the welfare and academic progress of pupils benefiting from its education sponsorship programme.

The visit enabled staff to engage directly with beneficiaries and their families, verify school attendance and assess the impact of support provided through the payment of school fees, uniforms and learning materials.

The team also inspected a borehole previously installed by the Foundation for residents of the waterfront community. The inspection identified infrastructure issues requiring urgent repairs, including work on the facility’s overhead tank.

“Our support does not end at paying school fees. We believe in walking alongside these families and ensuring that the environments in which our children grow and learn are dignified and functional,” Sotinwa said.