Saturday, 23 May 2015

ERC FREE COACHING: APPEAL FOR DONATIONS


2015 ERC FREE HOLIDAY COACHING
Appeal for Donations and other Forms of Support

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) annual Free Holiday Coaching is here again. The commencement date for this year's edition is August 4, 2015. We appeal to members of the public to render whatever support possible to this year's edition of the project. Cash donations and material supports in form of books, writing materials, food and drinks are welcomed.

The Free Holiday Coaching is an annual project of the ERC to enable poor and indigent secondary school students (from SS1 to SS3) who may not be able to afford the cost of private coaching to be able to receive free but quality teaching during this summer holiday. As everyone knows, teaching condition in public schools is so bad that students need extra classes during the holiday especially if they are preparing for external examinations.

Through this project, we also help to highlight government criminal neglect of the education needs of the poorest of the poor living in disadvantaged communities. Our belief in the ERC remains that until government deploys the vast resources of the country, which is otherwise looted, to invest in public education up to the point of provision of free and quality education at all levels, our education sector will continue to be the exclusive preserve of the rich few. This is why together with the free holiday coaching, the ERC is active in the advocacy and struggle for funding of public education.

Since 2005 and at an average of 300 annually, the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has provided teaching free of charge to over 3000 secondary school students in Ajegunle community of Lagos State. Many of the beneficiaries are now graduates and in many tertiary institutions across the country.

We could not have achieved this feat without the incredible sacrifices and contributions of our team of volunteer teachers (most of whom are fellow youth with hearts large enough to render their service free of charge). Also crucial to the success of this project is the support of the public as well as organisations like ActionAid Nigeria, media and individuals too numerous to name. This same support and more would be needed for the success of the project this year.

The economic crisis ravaging the country has adversely impacted on low-income and vulnerable families who are the targets of this project. The consequence of this crisis is that poor parents more often than before now have to make a choice between their children's education and how to stretch the family's tiny income to cover food needs for the month. We therefore expect a far larger turnout of indigent students this year.

For this, we are assembling a bigger team of volunteer teachers who can take various subjects. If there are more resources this year, we would like to introduce computer training which has been a dream for years now. Given the conversion of the Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) to Computer Based Test (CBT), our ability to provide training in computer would be of invaluable help to the students. Therefore, the support of the public in whatever way possible is urgently needed.

Once again we will like to thank all those who have supported us in any way in the past including all those who have visited the coaching to speak at the Friday Career and Counselling Talk or just to see at first sight what we are doing on the ground.

From the ERC team and on behalf of the Volunteer Teachers - Our heroes, we say "THANK YOU!"

For further enquiry, please call 07033697259 or send a message to edurightsforall@yahoo.co.uk

Read below the reports of some of the past editions of the Coaching

2006 ERC: Ajegunle Chapter Holds Free Coaching Classes

2012 ERC Free Summer Coaching Ends withSymposium

2013 ERC Rounds Off Free Holiday Coaching

2014 ERC COACHING CLOSING


H.T Soweto
National Coordinator
Education Rights Campaign (ERC)

 




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