The Lagos State Government has said that the pupils shown in a viral video where they posed inside a dirty water in Makoko area of the state soliciting for funds to rebuild a structure serving as an orphanage would be enrolled into the state’s public schools.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday, November 10 by Ganiu Lawal, Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Education.
The video came into the public eye after some members of a church visited the place to raise funds for the rebuilding of the orphanage and a space where the kids used to receive lessons.
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The orphanage, Mawumadoka Children Foundation at Oko-Agbon, off Iwaya Road, was also used as a school.
However, the state government has intervened and the pupils, who were said to live at the orphanage have been offered a better opportunity where they will be enrolled in public schools in the state.
The intervention is coming after the Ministry of Education and its agency, the State Universal Basic Education Board, as well as the state House of Assembly went to visit the area.
The said orphanage has since been demolished by the foundation to put in place a new building.
According to the statement, the pupils in the orphanage will be enrolled in some of the six public schools in the area.
“There are six public schools in the area but some parents prefer to send their wards to the orphanage, which incorporated school lessons as the population of the children continued to grow. In fact, many of the older children in the community attend Adekunle Primary School, and other public schools around the area but the Foundation retains the younger pupils,” it stated.
“The six public schools in the area are enough to accommodate all the children.
“As part of short term measures to ensure the children of the community have access to quality education, the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) will register pupils within the community into the following six public schools – Adekunle Anglican Primary School, Makoko Primary School, Ayetoro African Church Primary School, Fazil Omar Primary School, Ahmadiya Primary School and Talimu Islamiya Primary School.
“The Ministry, in collaboration with the Office of Civic Engagement will continue to encourage residents to access quality education in public schools as provided by the State government.”
Responding to the development, Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, noted that the Makoko orphanage/school has thrown up once again the challenge posed by unregistered low-cost schools in parts of the state.
‘’We are doing everything possible through inter-agency collaboration to ease the process of approval and get the schools standardised; it is a course of action this Government is seriously committed to,’’ she said.
“The State is also working with public and private institutions to support low cost schools and give them access to resources and funding to improve their schools.”
Although the church was heavily criticised for using innocent kids for such missions, they said it was meant to evoke sympathy from donors.
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