GE Nigeria and United for Kids Foundation team up to launch mobile literacy programme

ELECTRONICS giant GE Nigeria and children's charity United for Kids Foundation (UKF) have joined forces to launch a mobile library for literacy development programme called Read to me aimed at eradicating illiteracy.

Nigeria currently has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, with 10.3m kids of school age roaming the streets. This has spurred a wave of criminality across the country as these urchins are cannon fodder for terrorist groups like Boko Haram and are now engaged in banditry, kidnapping and communal violence.

In a bid to teach pupils to read correctly and improve their literacy levels, GE Nigeria and UKF have decided to act with the launch of the Read-To-Me mobile library programme which kicked off in four primary schools in the Akowonjo area of Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State. About 350 children are currently being covered with this initial launch in four schools, will eventually be expanded to 1,800 children per annum.

According to GE Nigeria, the mobile library is the first of many to come and it would teach pupils to read correctly and improve their literacy levels. During the launch at Akowonjo Primary School, Patricia Obozuwa, GE Nigeria's spokesman, explained that the idea was borne out of the interactions and experiences the company has had from years of partnering with UKF in conventional libraries set up in other government primary schools across Lagos State.

She added: “This initiative is ingenious because the library is mobile library, which means it can serve several schools simultaneously. It is one of the many that GE has supported as part of its continent wide Corporate Social Responsibility platform called GE Kujenga.

 “GE Kujenga focuses on empowering people by building valuable skills, equipping communities with new tools and technology and elevating innovative ideas that are helping solve Africa’s challenges. Not many skills are more valuable for the child than the ability to read and this programme fits naturally into the bucket of GE Kujenga.”

Ms Obozuwa further explained that the company, through its GE Volunteer Programme, gets employees together not only to pool funds to support worthy causes but also to spend time and effort volunteering on various projects that help bring about greater good in the society. Aameenah Yunus-Ali, UKF's programmes manager, added that the foundation has been running the Read-To-Me literacy programme for kids in various schools for eight years.

According to her, UKF decided to use primary schools in Alimosho Local Government Area as pioneers for the mobile library because of its large population of primary school children and because it is easily accessible. Remi Erinle, a member of the GE Volunteers Council said that the staff of the company were excited about volunteering on projects like this where they could help the kids develop their reading abilities.