By Eugene Onyeji
Prudential Zenith Life Insurance has made a donation of $100,000 to Slum2School Africa to help combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in disadvantaged communities in Nigeria. The donation was made through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Fund from the Prudence Foundation, the community investment arm of Prudential Plc in Asia and Africa.
Slum2School Africa is a leading volunteer-driven developmental organisation, transforming society by empowering underprivileged children in slums and remote communities with quality education, entrepreneurial skills and psychosocial support to enable them to realise their full potential and become social reformers.
A struggle has been going on prior to COVID-19 to ensure young children stay in school and have access to proper education, as Nigeria has the largest number of extremely poor people in the world, has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world (13.2 million) and 4 out of 5 persons aged 15-24 are unable to read a full sentence.
A statement by Prudential Plc said, “Without doubt, the pandemic has unmasked substantial inequities in the education sector and therefore calls for measures that will help bridge the divide and ensure access to quality education for all children by effectively meeting their diverse needs in a responsive way. These measures centre largely around Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) and government aid. Private and non-governmental sectors are tirelessly working to salvage this situation and Prudential Zenith Life Insurance has connected to this direction.”
According to the Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Chuks Igumbor, during the presentation of the cheque, “Our contribution to Slum2School’s activities demonstrates our corporate social responsibility action plan which is targeted towards communities most in need of the support we provide.”
He noted further that “the Coronavirus pandemic has impacted all aspects of our lives including the education sector, with a steep widening of education inequality as children and youths from underprivileged communities are unable to access the learning materials that students from affluent backgrounds are able to access. The strategic partnership between Prudential Zenith Life and Slum2School, therefore, aims to bridge this gap and engage learners from Nursery to Senior Secondary School across twenty slums and communities in Lagos State.”
According to the statement, “The donation will be basically used to procure 300 tablets with internet connections, 34 laptops for Slum2School facilitators, 34 whiteboards, markers and board eraser sets, state-of-the-art learning studio for 50-90 pupils per session, stationery for students, as well as learning programs and software. In addition to the cash donation, relief foodstuff was also provided to less privileged families within the identified communities to assist in these trying times.”
