By Olabisi Kazeem (Imam Ailaka)
Ede: Students numbering over one hundred males and females from public and private various secondary schools in Ede were given free text books to encourage and improve the lives of Muslim children in the society.
The distribution exercise which was the first phase this year, was organized on Saturday by Ede Muslim Scholarship education foundation (EMSEF) committee at Central Mosque, Oja -Timi, Ede.
Speaking at the occasion, the EMSEF committee Chairman, professor Luqman Jimoda Adekilekun said the scheme was aimed at enhancing students academic performance in internal and external examinations.
He reassured the gathering parents, of the scholarship committee ‘s commitment to easing the financial burden of education and ensuring that every child has access to quality leaning materials.
Prof. Jimoda who is the special Adviser to the governor on Mines, also encouraged the beneficiaries to take full advantage of the text books, study diligently, and remain focused on their academic pursuits to excel in their chosen careers.
In his speech, the Ede Muslim Community Chairman, Dr Misbaudeen Idris Sekoni stressed that the scholarship was a first step towards quality education as a good number of youths are now studying.
According to him: ” This scholarship scheme will help increase retention rate, decrease dropout, raise enrollment, improve daily attendance, increase passing rate of learners and enhance the quality of their education.
“We firmly believe that education is the bedrock of any development. Our goal is to build our children into worthy future leaders who will drive positive change in our community and beyond.
In his remarks, Hon Abdul Ganiy Amoo Tiamiyu who spoke with flowerburdnews correspondent commended Dr Idris led Muslim council executive committee for the education materials given to the learners who don’t have access to them “.
Adding: “This will not only motivate the students to complete their class / home work but also enable the teachers complete the course work and grading level in time”.
Hon Tiamiyu, a Commissioner in the State ate Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) urged the beneficiaries not to play with the books so as to be used for long time. He concluded.
Some of the parents whose children benefited from the scholarship spoke with flowerburdnews, said the reading books given would go a long way in assisting their wards’ academic pursuits.
Ayorinde Abosede Abigael, a Christian student of Al Fareed College and native of ORIGBO MEJE of ILE- IFE, eulogised the EMSEF committee for not religious bias by providing level playing ground in selecting the awardees.
She said she was surprised by this singular attitude of the organizers hence her decision to immediately change her faith to ISLAM and had since been re named as Nana Zainab even to the delight of her parents.
Also the students were not left out as Ademola Muktar, Quazeem Quadri; Olagunju Mujibat , Adebayo Abibat and Yusuff Roshidat thanked Almighty ALLAH for counting them among the lucky ones considered for the scholarship.
“We appreciate the Muslim council for putting up this type of programme to encourage and improve the lives of Muslim children in the society.”
The Text books distributed were ENGLISH, BIOLOGY, MATHEMATICS CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS and AGRICULTURE SCIENCE of which each student getting their preferred chosen four.
Meanwhile, the second phase of this year BURSARY AND SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS comes up on Saturday 25th of October, at the same venue EDE CENTRAL MOSQUE, it’s slated for 10:am Islamic time.
