Education fund supports 40 Lagos children

An educational fund programme, The Pearl Fund, created by the British-Nigerian rugby captain, Maro Itoje, has supported 40 children from indigent communities in Lagos State.

This was disclosed in a statement made available to Saturday PUNCH to commemorate the International Day of Education on Friday.

Launched by Itoje in July 2023, The Pearl Fund aimed to generate a multi-million-pound investment to offer long-term support for the education of children in Nigeria and other African countries and help break the cycle of poverty.

The statement read, “A third of Nigeria’s population (70 million) live in extreme poverty, with 20 million children out of school – of which 60 per cent are girls. The fund will be used to start school annually for a new cohort of 40 children from one of Lagos’ most deprived areas.

“There are currently 40 beneficiaries of the Pearl Fund: The Maro Itoje African Education Programme who are enrolled at Platform College, Lagos. The Pearl Fund focuses on children living in abject poverty, with a focus on orphaned and fatherless children.

“Their entire education will be financed ‘from cradle to college,’ at Platform College. The school provides the same quality education as provided by the United Kingdom state, adhering to the Cambridge International Curriculum which also incorporates their local culture.”

The statement added that the beneficiaries who complete secondary school education and wish to enter economic life through entrepreneurship will also be supported by the fund pending the approval of their business plan.

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