How Oyo-based NGO, Edukit Foundation, Gives Hope to Out-of-School Children

According to UNICEF, Nigeria has at least 15% out-of-school children globally, resulting in 18.3 million children in the population. The staggering figure gives the highest out-of-school children, which is attributed not only to inadequate policies, but also to a shortage of teachers, lack of infrastructures, limited budget allocation, and lack of learning materials.

In the Southwest, Oyo State records the highest out-of-school children, with over 20% children out of school, especially girls deprived of education. To address the gaps, Edukit Foundation has stepped in with interventions ranging from donations to sensitisation programs and direct support for vulnerable students.

Inspired by childhood experiences of witnessing how friends dropped out of school due to a lack of educational materials, the Founder of Edukit Foundation, Ms Fausat Abiola, is aiming to bridge the wide gap of education diversity and inequality in Oyo State.

“The motivation for starting Edukit came from my personal experiences growing up in an environment where I saw firsthand how a lack of access to books, basic school supplies, and other opportunities limited the potential of many children. I even had a friend who dropped out of school back in secondary school simply because he couldn’t afford the essentials to keep learning. That experience stayed with me and made me realise how something so little to one person can be life-changing to another,” she explained.

Her simple yet powerful belief is that “no child should be left behind because of where they come from or what they don’t have.”

Impactful Projects

Edukit Foundation operates different projects which range from the provision of basic educational needs and learning tools to sensitising students on health matters such as personal and menstrual hygiene, career guidance, and personal development. One of the upcoming projects is targeted at period poverty among secondary school girls.

“One of our upcoming projects, Pads for Progress, is aimed at tackling menstrual poverty by providing sanitary pads and menstrual hygiene education to schoolgirls, so they don’t miss school during their periods. Another project in the plan is the Pathfinder Project, which focuses on career guidance by creating resources to help secondary school students make informed choices about their future,” she said.

Among the schools that the Edukit Foundation has visited is Olubi Memorial Grammar School, where 50 school uniforms are distributed to the students.  The impacts of these projects were measured with data and the feedback from the beneficiaries, according to the founder.

She added that one of the most touching testimonies came during the uniform donation, where a student narrated how embarrassed she used to be wearing the same uniform for more than two years and how the new one given by the foundation gave her a sense of belonging.

Edukit Foundation also donated N80,000 to a creative boy who did an architectural design that caught their attention. The money donated was used to send the boy back to school, as the boy was a dropout. Initially, the donation was intended for the next session, but it turned out the boy was out of school due to financial constraints, which led to a redirection of the plan.

Originally, we planned to use funds for his next school session. But we later discovered that he hadn’t resumed for his current term–despite school being in session since April—because of financial constraints. That changed everything. We knew the best time to step in was now,” Edukit posted.

“Stories like these remind us why our work matters,” the founder said.

Replying to the criteria set for selecting schools, she replied that choosing beneficiaries comes with a lot of research and needs assessment.

“When it comes to choosing schools to work with, we deliberately prioritise underserved communities. Our team conducts research, often visiting schools directly, conducting needs assessments, because we don’t want to assume we know what the schools or students lack. We wanted to be sure of providing what they really need,” Ms Abiola explained.

While Edukit Foundation is not limited to Ibadan, most of the organisation’s activities are currently within Ibadan, a decision that has helped the foundation manage human resources and projects effectively.

Challenges Encountered

Like many startup nonprofit organisations, Edukit Foundation faced the problem of visibility and funding to sustain projects for the very long term.  Most of the projects are largely funded from personal pockets, team support, and a few individuals who believe in the mission through social media campaigns and awareness.

“Being a startup nonprofit, one of our biggest challenges has been funding. The needs we see in underserved schools are vast, but our resources are still very limited. While we’ve been able to carry out impactful projects like Uniform for Hope, sustaining and scaling them requires consistent support, which is not always easy to secure. Another challenge is visibility…getting people to know about Edukit and trust our mission as a young organisation. But we see these challenges as part of the growth journey, and they motivate us to keep pushing forward,” Ms Abiola said.

Despite this, the foundation sticks to its short term goal of reaching underserved schools with essential learning tools and empowerment programs that directly impact students’ ability to stay in school and thrive while in the long term, Edukit aspires to scale across all the 36 states of Nigeria, building sustainable partnerships, and establish structured programs that not only provide resources but also influence policy changes so that access to quality education becomes a right truly enjoyed by every child, not a privilege.

Edukit Foundation believes education is the most powerful tool to change lives and break cycles of poverty.

She said, “What we’re doing may look small today, but every book, every uniform, every program we deliver is a seed of hope in the life of a child. And with the support of kindhearted individuals and partners, we can multiply that impact. So my final note would be that together, we can ensure no child is left behind.”

Read Also: In Oyo, Infrastructure Deficit Contributes to Absenteeism Among Secondary School Girls