Why Education Matters
Every child in Nigeria has the right to education, yet millions remain excluded due to poverty, insecurity, displacement, cultural barriers, and lack of infrastructure. Even those in school often face overcrowded classrooms, shortages of trained teachers, and limited learning materials. For many, hunger and long distances to school further hinder attendance and performance.
Beyond formal schooling, informal learning – vocational training, apprenticeships, and community-based programs – offers hope for out-of-school children. However, these opportunities often lack structure, certification, and pathways to employment. The digital divide adds another layer of inequality, leaving vulnerable children without access to online learning tools.
Without quality education, children face restricted futures, and Nigeria loses vital human potential.
Our Mission in Action
Caritas Nigeria considers basic education a fundamental right. Access to quality education empowers individuals and communities, reduces poverty, contributes to sustainable and integral human development, promotes tolerance and peace, and mitigates the potential for religious fundamentalism. Access to quality basic education is limited due to poor funding, inadequate infrastructure and teaching tools, an imbalanced curriculum, a derelict learning environment, paucity of qualified teachers, and frequent disruptions due to incessant labour strike actions. Social factors such as culture, religion, tradition, ignorance and poverty also create significant inequities in access to quality basic education. There is a paucity of well-trained and duly certified artisans who have passed through formal vocational training, with the consequent attainment of economic independence.
For over a decade, Caritas Nigeria has championed education for vulnerable children and youth, reaching 120,000+ beneficiaries across 12 states: Abia, Adamawa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, FCT, Imo, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau, and Taraba. Through partnerships with PEPFAR, UNHCR, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Italy, GIZ, the Conrad Hilton Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Caritas Germany, Caritas Norway, and Union Bank, we break barriers and build futures by:
- Enrolling out-of-school children
- Providing scholarships and exam fee support
- Upgrading school infrastructure
- Delivering vocational skills training and starter kits
- Bridging the digital divide with solar-powered classrooms and ICT hubs
Our impact:
- 2,508 children enrolled/re-enrolled
- 2,512 youth trained in vocational skills
- 7 solar-powered digital classrooms
- 119 schools upgraded
We are scaling digital classrooms, integrating education into health programs, and forging partnerships for vulnerable learners.
Core Strategies
- Formal Education Support – Enrolment, scholarships, learning materials
- Skills for Self-Reliance – Vocational training, starter kits, microcredit linkages
- Infrastructure Upgrades – Block grants for classrooms, WASH facilities, and teacher training
- Digital Innovation – ICT integration, solar-powered classrooms, digital hubs
- Community Systems Strengthening – Child protection committees, school-based management
Stories That Inspire
- From Dropout to Digital Leader: Gbaazou (13, Benue) mastered biology via 3D animations and now leads his school’s Digital Kids Club.
- Tailoring Graduate to Entrepreneur: Chioma (17, Imo) trained under 4GATES, received a sewing machine, and now employs two apprentices.
- Reviving Schools: A block grant restored a primary school in Abia, fixing its roof and providing desks.
Looking Ahead
Caritas Nigeria is committed to:
- Scaling digital classrooms nationwide
- Integrating education into child health programs
- Expanding anti-trafficking education models
- Forging public-private partnerships for refugee and vulnerable learners
