Advocacy, fundraising and volunteering: Baruwa Community Primary School
on Ipaja Community Link (Nigeria), 25/Feb/2009 10:50, 34 days ago
Baruwa Community Primary School, one of the only government-owned public primary schools in the area and not that far from the office of Ipaja Community Link, has recently become one of the key areas of work for staff. The school has over 700 pupils, but just 7 classrooms and 7 teachers. This picture was taken inside one of the classroom where there were 120 pupils and one teacher. The school was originally sited in a factory, but the school moved to this site in 2007 and opened on 5 May 2008 - it was not completed, but the Headteacher and teachers believed that it was "manageable". Government funds have not since stretched to complete windows, doors and plastering nor are there available funds to install toilets for the pupils or the teachers or provide a bore-hole for safe drinking water. Currently, pupils and staff go to the toilet in the bush area beside the school (which is often frequented by snakes) and drink water from an exposed well.ICL is now working alongside teachers, parents and community leaders, as well as the Local Government, to facilitate the necessary improvements to the school and to seek funding to install toilets and a bore-hole. Once approval is received from state-level, ICL youth volunteers will volunteer their time as teaching assistants, and following necessary training, the volunteers will also provide basic literacy and numeracy skills and information about basic health issues through the Child-to-Child programme to the pupils.