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Tolu is nine. (Tolu is a composite character, drawn from stories we hear often.) Every morning she watches children in clean uniforms walk past her gate. Her mother loves her and can’t find the money for a bag, a pair of shoes and “extras” she assumes the school will demand. So Tolu stays home, minding

There is a girl somewhere in Lagos right now, walking to school in a uniform two sizes too big, bought big on purpose, so it lasts a little longer. She’s carrying more than books. She’s carrying the hope of everyone who ever told her “you can be anything,” and the quiet fear that the money

The night before school resumes is supposed to be simple. A freshly ironed uniform hanging on the door. A new notebook, its pages still stiff and unwritten. The small, nervous excitement of wondering who your new class teacher will be. For a boy we’ll call Tobi, that night looked different. His uniform was two sizes

Imagine being a child and watching your friends prepare for a new school term, new books, uniforms, classrooms and the excitement of seeing friends again while you are unsure whether you will be returning to school. For many vulnerable children, this is their reality. September is just around the corner, and over 100 children supported

The generator hums somewhere behind the compound as I pull my notebook out, and already I know today’s visit will not go the way I planned it on paper. We arrive just after 8 a.m. the hour most Nigerian children are supposed to be settling into their first lesson. Instead, the compound is full of

British Airways donated 10 laptops to IA-Foundation beneficiaries in Lagos, opening new doors to digital learning for out-of-school children returning to education. From the Skies to the Classroom: British Airways Gifts 10 Laptops to IA-Foundation Beneficiaries For a nine-year-old who has only ever seen a computer in pictures, sitting in front of one for the

Ten-year-old Blessing had already stopped counting the days since she last sat in a classroom. She spent her mornings helping her mother sell pepper soup ingredients by the roadside in Surulere, and somewhere along the way, “one day” had quietly become “no day at all.” That changed the moment our team walked into her community.

Lagos, Nigeria — On the morning of June 23rd, some of Nigeria’s most influential minds gathered at the Four Points by Sheraton, Victoria Island, not for the usual round of pleasantries and photo ops, but for something far more urgent: a reckoning with the millions of Nigerian children who are growing up outside the classroom.

IA-Foundation deepens push to reduce Nigeria’s 15m out-of-school kids READ MORE ON THE GUARDIAN IA-Foundation expands educational access for vulnerable children https://thenationonlineng.net/ia-foundation-rallies-stakeholders-to-tackle-out-of-school-children/ Out-of-School Crisis: Foundation seeks action on education gap READ MORE

The first thing you notice about Makoko is the water. It is everywhere, beneath your feet, reflecting the grey morning sky, carrying the weight of thousands of lives lived in a place the rest of Lagos sometimes forgets. Canoes slice through narrow channels. Children peer from doorways that open directly onto the lagoon. The air