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The Challenge

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Education

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Education is the backbone of any society. Higher literacy rates ultimately lead to higher economic growth and development. Unfortunately, a 2022 UNESCO report showed that Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out of school children and youth - approximately 20 million out of children with at least one in five of all out-of-school children globally. Reasons for this dismal reality include high rate of poverty (Nigeria has the largest number of people in the world living in poverty at 133 million with over 88 million living in abject poverty) , conflict and displacement, poor funding of education, corruption amongst others. Similar reasons reduce the quality of education provided. 

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According to the World Economic Forum (2017), Nigeria ranks 124th out of 137 countries in terms of quality of primary education with 58.3% of school children in Nigeria are not learning basic literacy and numeracy skills. Lack of quality education slows sustainable growth and development across countries. Uneducated or poorly educated youth lack skills to compete in the modern economy, or worse unable to secure gainful employment to make a comfortable living and contribute positively to the progress of the society. 

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SSI believes that early quality education is crucial to developing the solid background in literacy skills that are needed to succeed in a competitive environment. Unfortunately, less privileged, low resource communities lack this critical part of human development. Opportunities missed in the appropriate education of the young mind hinders the growth of any society in the near future, hence the need to prioritize provision and/or augmentation of educational tools necessary for quality early education. Academically vibrant and engaging educational programs make for a more intellectually robust academic experience and ultimately intellectual and economic success.

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SSI aims to contribute towards improving accessibility to quality early education by:

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  • Supporting nursery and elementary schools particularly in low resource poor urban and rural areas with academic resources, teacher training and recertification courses to improve and retain quality 

  • Refurbishing local public libraries and updating library educational resources and programs to be at par with the standards in developed countries. 

    • Obtaining access to great digital collections of published books and media to expand the library beyond physical walls will be a priority. 

    • Provision of computers with internet for free access to digital library resources

    • Library programs will include children story time, craft time, lunches, book clubs and STEM programming.
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VR Goggles

Job Skills Acquisition 

According to the News and Finance website, The Spectator Index, the 2023 youth unemployment rate in Nigeria is 53%, the second highest in the world after South Africa. The causes of youth unemployment in Nigeria are multifactorial, ranging from inadequate education and skills development to economic instability and limited job opportunities. To help address this, SSI intends to forge private-public partnerships with local public libraries to:  

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  • Set up career services to assist with job searches and applications, resume development, workforce training services including professional certification courses and seminars, literacy programs for adults, small and medium size business development and entrepreneurial courses. 

  • Establish dedicated career centers and host job fairs by collaborating with businesses and workforce development agencies

Fitness

Health

Fitness

Preventive health is generally undervalued as a foundational health maintenance strategy. The mortality rate of certain cancers can be reduced 50% or more with appropriate health screening and early detection. Preventive measures and health education can reduce complications of prevalent chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus. In children, immunization is an essential, cost-effective strategy to reduce childhood morbidity and mortality which saves an estimated 2 to 3 million lives each year. However, according to the World Health Organization 2020 report, more 22.7 million children are estimated as zero- or missed-immunization dose globally, of which an estimated 3.1 million (about 14 %) reside in Nigeria. Some associated factors cited include maternal education and literacy, access to health facilities, socioeconomic status, fears and misconceptions about vaccination, vaccine availability and giving birth in a health facility. Lack or incomplete immunization leads to disease outbreaks which are highly preventable. 
SSI hopes to address some of these issues by:

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  • Collaborating with local government health department to ensure there is 100% immunization coverage especially among school children especially in hard to reach, remote rural areas.

  • Incorporation of health education and basic good hygiene practices in school curriculum and activities

  • Medical outreaches with health screening and preventive care counseling

  • Community health maintenance seminars in urban areas, in collaboration with the library community service division.

Citrus Fruits

Childhood Nutrition

Under-nutrition in school age children have proven to be responsible for poor academic performance as well as declined work capacity, poor health/reproductive function later in life. Studies have shown that the prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting/thinness in school age children in Nigeria, ranges from 20% to as high as 50% with geographical variations. More so, school children in remote rural areas are less likely to have access to high protein meals needed for optimal growth and brain development due to financial constraints.
SSI embarks on alleviating this by initiating a school feeding program with a target of at least one high protein meal per student daily.

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