Success Story

New Facilities Increase
School Attendance  

June 2006 - The rural community of Folu is found in Ibeju Lekki, a riverine Local Government Authority in Lagos state.  Depending mainly on fishing for a living, the local population of 2000 has only one school with 252 pupils (137 male and 115 female).  Although parents want their children to be educated, they are reluctant to send them to a facility lacking important resources to ensure a successful learning environment. 

Working through community action groups to think critically of the school environment, the parents and teachers of Folu recognized that one of the problems their children faced at school was lack of toilet facilities. Pupils had no choice except to go into the bush, where encounters with snakes or even human aggressors could threaten their security. This, the Folu Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) decided, was a situation they could correct in partnership with COMPASS.

Through a sub-grant to the PTA, COMPASS supported construction of four toilets for teachers and students. With a new perception of hygiene, privacy and safety for their children in the school environment, parents are now more comfortable sending their children for education, and attendance has increased by 11%. The children themselves are more comfortable. Says the PTA Chairman: “We have witnessed the pleasant changes building these facilities has brought. Our children are more eager to go to school, and they don't have a reason not to stay in school.”