Project Description: i. A primary schools/community partnership in which the community is actively engaged through volunteerism to provide students free food during school.
ib. Students are encouraged to engage in community outreach efforts.
ii. Economic parity and support in-kind for teachers, to enhance the teaching skills and capacity of teachers.
The SAYGER Foundation will provide funding to manage, coordinate and execute the “BE” project. This will involve organizing management team of volunteers in preparing food for students, purchase of utensils and ingredients for preparing food and transportation for delivery of food. Teacher support will be through subsidizing major living expenses by negotiating with participating businesses in town. The subsidy should reduce the financial burden these teachers have to endure and eliminate the need to seek additional income.
Timetable for the project: The project is to be conducted year-round, while the run/walk is a single annual event.
Anticipated outcomes: Improved student nutrition should improve learning and motivation to learn. Improved learning should be reflected in improved student performance in defined learning objectives such as secondary school admissions and performance in secondary school. Creating economic parity for teachers should lower the burden of their cost of living, improve their lifestyle, and increase morale for the teaching profession. Additional academic training should enhance their capacity as teachers and their commitment to teach primary school students. Nurturing partnerships and implementing volunteer activities should help increase community involvement in primary education. While there are individual and group efforts at addressing different issues that face the education system in general, most of these are aimed at the secondary and post-secondary academic levels. Only such long-term work focused on primary education can bring lasting and sustainable change, so that all pupils benefit and have a stronger foundation from which to fulfill their life goals and contribute to a better society.
Project Outline: Currently: Foundation webpage (http://www.saygercharity.org) for informing the public about Foundation activities and maintaining a newsletter on rural living Dec. 21st,
2012: Inaugural Òkè Ògùn 10K Run/Walk, to initiate major annual fund-raising event. January
2013: Begin providing free food twice weekly to 250 primary school students in 2 project model primary schools; Begin student community outreach project including monthly school beautification (cleaning and planting) and community beautification (central market, government offices, King’s palace, hospital etc).
Proposed: Annual awards ceremony for primary school faculty and staff; Sponsor 3 primary school teacher every 2 years on the In-service training (Inset) program provided by the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI) either enrolled in the Open and Distance Learning techniques or the Institutes/Faculties of Education of universities (Part-time and Sandwich courses); Sponsor study abroad/capacity building award every 2 years to a primary school teacher; Sponsor visits by motivational speakers or role models during the school year; Assess Foundation projects annually for Quality and relevance; Annual survey of the community for feedback on Foundation projects.