Oando Foundation Announces Book Drive to commemorate International Literacy Day
Oando Foundation announces the launch of the Oando Foundation Book Drive to commemorate International Literacy Day on September 8, 2014. International Literacy Day celebrates the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.
The Oando Foundation book drive is aimed at promoting literacy and entrenching a reading culture amongst Nigerian children. The drive is a call to interested individuals to donate books (new/fairly used) for pupils aged 2 to 14 years and writing materials. The items received will be distributed by volunteers to pupils in Oando Foundation adopted schools at the start of the 2014/15 academic session.
The Foundation has a long-standing global commitment to providing quality education and has demonstrated this through its Adopt-a- School Initiative. The 2013 UNESCO Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report ranks Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest level of illiteracy. The report stated that the number of illiterate adults in Nigeria has increased by 10 million over the past two decades to 35 million in 2013 and almost 80% of young people aged 15 to 24 who left school after five to six years could not read a full sentence. Literacy is integral to economic development because it affects peoples’ lives directly; impacting their chances of employment, level of income and type of occupation.
Tokunboh Durosaro, Director, Oando Foundation remarked that "Access to proper reading tools, like books, is one of the greatest contributory factors to low literacy levels in Nigeria. By putting books in the hands of kids who are eager to learn but do not have the means, Oando Foundation will give them the gift of education and learning."
According to the CIA World Factbook, almost 75% of the world’s 775 million illiterate adults are concentrated in ten countries (in descending order: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo).
About Oando Foundation:
Oando Foundation, established in 2011, is an independent charity launched by Oando PLC, one of Africa’s leading indigenous energy solutions providers. The Foundation aims to support the Nigerian Government to meet the Millennium Development Goals to achieve Universal primary education. Its mission is to radically improve the quality of teaching and learning in
Nigerian schools and communities by ensuring access to world class basic education systems.
Oando PLC currently provides 1 % of its annual pretax profit to fund the Foundation. Oando Foundation has also established strategic partnerships with government, the private sector, international development partners, NGOs and civil society to fulfill its goals and objectives.
Oando Foundation has adopted 48 schools across 20 states, Adamawa, AkwaIbom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, FCT Abuja, Kaduna, Katsina, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, and Taraba States. The Foundation plans to adopt 100 schools by 2015; directly affect over 200,000 lives by ensuring over 100,000 pupils have access to quality primary education; broaden the capacity of over 4,000 teachers, award scholarships to over 2,560 pupils to reduce direct and indirect costs of education to students.
Learn more about the Foundation at www.oandofoundation.org.
For further information, please contact:
Tokunboh Durosaro
Director, Oando Foundation
2 Ajose Adeogun Street
Victoria Island
Lagos, Nigeria.
Email: tdurosaro@oandoplc.com
Tel: +234 (1) 2702400 Ext 6226