The Harrison Goodness Foundation has released the sum of N520,000 to cover tuition and examination fees for secondary school students in Isuikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State.
The gesture is meant to offer relief to families of the affected students grappling with rising education costs in Nigeria.
HGF’s disbursement follows the graduation of one of its scholars, Miss Victoria Godwin, who completed her secondary education under full sponsorship from the Foundation. Her fees from Senior Secondary One through Senior Secondary Three, including WAEC registration, were entirely financed by the programme.
The Foundation’s Scholarship Board Chairman, Dr. Onyekachi Ogwo, said the intervention will provide N40,000 each to 12 beneficiaries ahead of the first term of the 2025/2026 academic year.
Final-year students will receive an additional N40,000 to offset the cost of their West African Examinations Council (WAEC) registration.
He revealed that the foundation was founded by Chief Richard and Dr. Gloria Harrison, has steadily positioned itself as a private-sector player in grassroots education financing.
He said, “Education remains the strongest investment in human capital. HGF’s strategy is designed to ensure that financial limitations do not exclude promising students from completing their schooling.
“Nigeria has witnessed a surge in education-related expenses in recent years, driven by double-digit inflation and a weakened naira that has eroded household purchasing power.
“School fees across the country have climbed steadily, putting low- and middle-income families under increasing financial strain.
“Our Foundation’s work is becoming more relevant as public funding struggles to keep pace with population growth and the rising costs of providing quality education”.
Speaking during the event, the Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Abia State Council, Comrade Chidi Asonye, praised the initiative, describing it as a demonstration of how philanthropy can plug critical funding gaps in Nigeria’s overstretched education sector.
“The intervention underscores the growing reliance on philanthropic and private initiatives to complement government spending, as Nigeria faces mounting challenges in funding education for its rapidly expanding population’ he said.
Source: THE PUNCH.
