“MONEY SHOULD NOT BE A REASON CHILDREN ARE KEPT AWAY FROM SCHOOL” - UAU FOUNDATION
For many children, the difference between being in a classroom and staying at home is not ability, not willingness, but money.
Across communities in Cross River State, primary education, meant to be the foundation of learning, is too often disrupted by financial limitations. Children eager to learn are held back, not by a lack of potential, but by circumstances beyond their control. School fee continues to quietly push children out of classrooms. What should be a basic right has, for many families, now becomes a recurring struggle.
This is the reality the UAU Foundation has been committed to changing. Driven by the belief that every child deserves access to education, the foundation has continued to remove financial barriers that stand between children and their future.
In the first quarter of the year, that commitment translated into direct impact.
The UAU Foundation fully covered two terms of school fees for over 300 pupils across Calabar South and Calabar Municipality, and over 420 pupils in Obudu Local Government Area, Cross River State.
For many of these children, this support meant one thing - they get stay in school and build the foundations of their future.
Beyond paying school fees, the UAU Foundation also facilitated an effective learning process for the children, where pupils received essential writing materials, including: Notebooks, Pens and pencils, Erasers and sharpeners.
This simple intervention reached several public primary schools across the state, highlighting the meaningful impact of building a solid child education background, and also enhancing their academic performances and confidence in classrooms.
The UAU Foundation during the course of the outreach covered a total number of 31 schools within 3 LGA’s in Cross River State.
These schools included;
Calabar Municipality: Government Primary School Ikot-Ishie, Government Primary School Akai Effa, Government Primary School Ikot Anwantim, PCN Akim Aqua Town
Calabar South: St. Mary Primary School, Government Primary School Atu, Bishop King Memorial Primary School
Obudu: Community Primary School Unimukung, Migrant Primary School, RCM Babuabie, Community Primary School Iglaba, Migrant Primary School Begiabe, RCM Begiabe, Government Primary School Udigie, Community Primary School Ukpada Utugwang, St. Colmas Primary School Utugwang, Government Primary School Mgbenege, St. Joseph’s Primary School Betukwel, Government Primary School Ashipe, Government Primary School Owong, RCM Okwereiseng, St. John’s Primary School Alege, Government Primary School Ukutia, Holy Trinity Primary School Ukwel, Community Primary School Indeli, Government Nomadic Primary School Obudu, Community Primary School Bebuagbong, Government Primary School Okorshie, Government Primary School Indibeke, Government Primary School Bebuatshuan, Community Primary School Indibekpam, Community Primary School Kikwomikwu, Government Primary School Abeb, Holy Child Covenant School Obudu
This initiative marks the first school fee support project of the year by the UAU Foundation, with plans to expand its reach and impact across several communities in Cross River State.
At its core, the mission remains clear: to ensure that no child is forced out of school because of financial hardship.
Education is more than attendance, it is opportunity, growth, and the foundation for a better future and y removing one of the biggest barriers to access, the UAU Foundation is not just keeping children in school, it is helping them stay on the path to becoming all they can be.
