The presentation, held at the Child Fund head office, forms part of its ‘Zero Out of School Children’ (ZOOSC), a three-year project designed to enroll over 66,000 children, who are currently out of school.
It is also geared towards addressing the travel hurdles faced by many of the children targeted by the project. For Child Fund-The Gambia, there will be a safety and security trainings for the would-be riders, as well as advocacy on the importance of education particularly girls.
Presenting the bicycles, Nfamara Dabo, Country Director, Child Fund-The Gambia, explained that the goal of the project is ensure that all children in the Gambia are enrolled to have quality primary education.
Child Fund-The Gambia, he said, has committed 3000 bicycles towards the project after realising that thousand-out of children dropped-out of school because they lack transportation needs. These bicycles, he believes, will address those barriers.
Mr Dabo also pointed out that they received additional funding for another 700 bicycles, saying the procurement process of that will commence soon, as they’ve have achieved 70% of their target grant.
While emphasising that these bicycles are purely meant for primary school-children, Dabo maintained that Child Fund- The Gambia remains committed to the welfare of children and that they will not relent until every child realises his or her potential.
He thanked their partners, UNICEF and MOBSE for the incredible project, which he said, has already started impacting lives as seen in enrollment of over 29,000 'out of school children' so far.
To that end, he encouraged recipient children to make best use of the bikes and ensure that they are used for the intended purpose.
Banuha Jatta, education specialist at UNICEF, stressed the need for partnership in chalking greater achievements towards the progress of education.
While thanking Child Fund -The Gambia, for such the gesture, Jatta reminded that promoting the safety of children would greatly impact students and communities.
He called on beneficiaries to ensure regular maintenance for it to serve its purpose.
Kebba Omar Jarjusey, National Coordinator, Education For All Campaign Network The Gambia (EFANet), thanked Child Fund The Gambia for the gesture, which he said, would significantly help beneficiaries have access to quality education.
Child Fund-The Gambia, he added, is making learning accessible and affordable to people, while motivating children with facilities to be in regular in schools.
Ibrahim Shaw, Principal Education Officer, who doubles as Regional Education Director Region 4, appealed to donors to include children with disabilities in their next consignment.
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