Education Must Continue Initiative
For the past several decades, children from the northeastern part of Nigeria have not only been systematically deprived of a quality education but now are being totally denied access to basic schooling. Currently, there are about 1 million children in the States of Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe who have been forced out of school as a result of the insurgency from the Islamic, terrorist sect Boko Haram. Thousands of young girls have been directly affected through mass abductions, physical and mental abuse and forceful relocation. Many of these children do not know where their parents are. Perhaps the most notable attack on education and children’s rights by the sect was the April 14 abduction of 276 girls from Government Girls Secondary School (GGSS), Chibok.
Although much attention, domestically and globally, has been drawn to the plight of the sector as a result of the mass abduction, the truth is that systematic, retrogressive policies in northern Nigeria have brought about a total collapse of educational standards. This, in turn, has led to high unemployment rates and a ready-made pool to draw from for political thugs and terrorist groups. Even after completing secondary school, the literacy rate of students from this region remains abysmally poor; many of them lack elementary reading and writing skills.
Most worrisome is the critical situation of girls who are now being discouraged from pursuing higher education and instead, pushed into early marriage. A large number of young mothers in the northeast are uneducated and therefore do not value the importance of a good education, thus sustaining the cycle and generations of uneducated children.
We are a community of individuals with distinct backgrounds but ultimately drawn by a desire to spread the love of God through education. The personnel of the initiative are made up of fulltime and volunteer staff who are specially trained to implement the specific strategies and programs of the EMC. Our organization’s existence is a response to the Boko Haram insurgency in northeastern Nigeria and the systematic deterioration of education in the region. Through friends, both domestic and abroad, we strive to provide a brighter future for the victimized children. In 2014, through the combined efforts of selfless individuals and organizations, 10 of the escaped abductees from GGSS, Chibok were relocated to High Schools in the United States of America.
EMC’s mission is to restore foundations of quality Education to the deprived victims of discrimination and terror especially in the Northeastern Part of Nigeria. Their vision is to see a number of children from the region who can favorably compete academically with their peers from anywhere in the country.
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