As Corona Schools’ Trust Council (CSTC) gears to commemorate its monumental 70thanniversary celebration, the organisation continues to reaffirm its commitment to education and community development. Known for the delivery of top-tier education, Corona Schools has produced exceptional and well-rounded men and women making an impact in all walks of life.
One of the core values of the Trust Council is ‘Service to the Community” and with the Corona Schools’s Out-of-School Initiative, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project under the Corona Connect series, the Trust Council continues to transform the lives of children in underserved communities through scholarships, provision of educational supplies, teacher development and facility upgrades.
The Initiative kickstarted in 2019, sponsoring the education of 100 indigent children in Takwa Bay and Makoko areas of Lagos State for the 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic sessions through an NGO. In the year 2020, the Trust Council granted a full scholarship on compassionate grounds to Jennifer Williams, a young girl from an underserved community who had to drop out of school due to an arm infection that eventually led to her being an amputee. The scholarship covers her tuition, textbooks, stationeries, school uniforms and all other educational needs throughout her entire secondary education, valued at over N45 million. Williams is currently in Year 12, gearing for her terminal exams all covered by the Trust Council.
Beyond Tarkwa Bay and Makoko, the Trust Council proceeded to the Ago-Egun community of Bariga LCD where 25 pupils were selected with the help of community leaders, and enrolled into Adeife Sodipo-Akindeko Memorial Primary School, Bariga in the 2021/2022 session. The focus was on children aged 6-15 years who are out of school, offering them the chance to enrol in Lagos State public schools. Till date, Corona has enrolled three cohorts of 75 children in total from the same community.
Beyond enrolment, CSTC has made significant investments in improving the learning environment for these children, including the upgrade of Adeife Sodipo-Akindeko Memorial Primary School’s library. The newly refurbished library, officially commissioned alongside the second cohort, was designed to inspire a culture of reading and lifelong learning.
The Initiative also invests in public school educators. In collaboration with the Corona College of Education (CCED), CSTC has been organising free training exercises for selected public-school teachers in Somolu LGEA. The 2024 edition held on June 20, 2024, themed ‘Personal Effectiveness: The Effective and Efficient Teacher,’ was attended by 100 teachers selected across public primary schools in Somolu LGEA. The training aimed to equip teachers with the skills needed to better manage classrooms and provide high-quality education.
The spirit of community service is deeply ingrained in the Corona Schools’ ethos. The recently graduated Class 6 pupils of all Corona primary schools, with the support of their parents, demonstrated this by embarking on a CSR project, where they donated essential items to the underserved, and to Corona’s adopted schools across Lagos including welfare materials, playground equipment, and educational materials. Projects like these are conducted annually to prepare pupils to become compassionate and socially responsible individuals.
Corona Schools also partnered with the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) to visit eight government-owned primary schools in Bariga in celebration of the 2024 Children’s Day. Over 2,500 packets of cereal and milk were generously donated in conjunction with Lagos Food Bank (LFB) to the children.
These initiatives serve as a strong reminder of the Trust Council’s enduring legacy of education, community service, and positive societal impact. The 7-decade old institution continues to inspire excellence in education and will continue to work with stakeholders to build a future where every child has access to a well-rounded education.
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