One hundred and twenty pupils, who used to attend school in torn uniforms bearing souvenir and polythene bags instead of back packs, have got replacements for these essential school items.
They have the Seedtime Foundation to thank for the gesture, which benefitted pupils of seven primary schools in Agege area of Lagos State.
The Foundation also built and equipped playgrounds for the schools, which are clustered on two premises in Sofunde and Otubu.
It was hard for pupils of St Peters Blessed School, Sofunde in Agege, and its three neighbouring schools to contain their excitement at the inauguration of the playground.
However, they managed to sit still for the formal ceremony where 80 uniforms and 20 bags were presented to those most in need of them. (The remaining 30 bags were distributed at Ajegunle Primary School).
One particularly grateful child was Mohammed Abdulrasak, a pupil of St Peters Blessed School, who said his father was a Customs Officer, and mother, a housewife.
The Primary Five pupil’s school uniform had seen better days. He wore a pair of red and white tennis shoes, which equally looked worn. His whitish skin was covered with scabs. “I feel better. I am happy,” he told The Nation.
The 120 beneficiaries had been pre-identified before the ceremony by Tope Dada, an Administrative Officer of the foundation, who went into classrooms of St Peters, Bishop Ajana Memorial Primary School, Ibido Memorial Primary School and Oke Koto United Primary School, all within the same premises, to pick out pupils with torn uniforms and tattered or no school bags.
“I went to each school, each classroom to choose children with torn, rumpled, uniforms. We chose 20 in each of the four schools in the complex. Then for school bags, we chose 20 from two schools at St Peters and 30 from three schools at Ajegunle Primary School complex. Some of the children brought nylon bags to school; some of them brought souvenir bags as school bags,” she said.
In her address, Mrs Adetola Oladeji, founder of Seedtime Foundation and a teacher at Grange School, Ikeja, said the donation was a continuation of the library project earlier implemented in schools around Agege.
She said the foundation was mostly made up of teachers in her school, parents, and church members, who volunteered their time and funds to provide a conducive learning environment for less-privileged pupils.
“To God be the glory. In April, we did some library projects and we thought that the best thing to do next was a play project in line with the adage, ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. The library project represents work; while this is for play. We want the children to have fun. Those of us here today are all teachers. We work at the same school,” said Mrs Oladeji.
Education Secretary, Agege Local Government Education Authority (ALGEA), Mr Olalekan Majiyagbe, praised the foundation for investing in less privileged children. He said doing so was for the good of all as those children would live in the same society as their more privileged peers in expensive schools – and if they turn out wrong, they would be threats to those that turn out right.
“If you take care of this children, they will take care of you in their own way. The best thing is to take care of these children so that those attending private schools will also survive. They are going to use the same roads and other facilities as those attending private schools.
“This recreation facility is going to promote physical development, agility, gross motor development, psycho-social interaction. Seedtime Foundation thanks for this good thing. Don’t think that God is not measuring it. It may be that is why God is preserving you,” he said.
Majiyagbe named the playground after the chairman, Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB), Dr Ganiyu Sopeyin.
In his speech, Sopeyin, represented by the Director, School Support Services, LSUBEB, Dr Ade Abatan, praised the Foundation for supporting the government.
“This is a very good idea. I am more than impressed with what Seedtime Foundation has done for us. The government cannot do it alone,” he said.
Head Teacher, St Peters Blessed Primary School, Mrs Sarat Oyebamiji, said the playground was already attracting children from outside, while the uniforms and bags would boost the self-esteem of the beneficiaries.
“I am very excited because since they created this playground, children from other schools have been coming. It will boost our population.
Regarding the uniform, she said: “Some of these children had been coming to school with torn uniforms. We wrote to their parents but they did not show up. The children felt inferior in torn uniforms – even bags, some brought nylon to school; some didn’t even have nylon bags,” she said.
Mr Emeka Okeke, a volunteer from Grange School, said his involvement in the Foundation was a way of giving back.
Okeke, who teaches sciences, said: “It is an opportunity for me to give back what I have got from society. I am being paid for what I do as a teacher and I like it. But doing something without being paid is special. I saw some of the children without shoes; school uniforms and felt sad,” said the Science teacher.
Seedtime Foundation also endowed another playground at Ajegunle Primary School in Otubu area of Agege, which would also serve Darocha Primary School and C.A.C Primary School. Thirty pupils from the three schools also got school bags.
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