For 25 Cents a Day, Poor Nigerians Get a STEM Education
2022-03-26
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1Nigerian students who want to escape poverty can learn science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, for the cost of 100 naira, or about 25 cents, a day.
2Faridat Bakare is a 12-year-old student at Knosk Secondary School in Abuja.
3She started in the school in 2020, a year after it opened. She wants to be an engineer.
4In a technical lab at the school, she shows a design for a solar-powered car made from cardboard for her class project.
5"I want to become an electrical engineer who works with robots and solar panels and all the connections of all the snap circuits and ... things like that," said Bakare.
6She lives with her mother and four siblings in a poor neighborhood in Abuja.
7Knosk School runs largely on donations.
8The school currently has 82 students, but is expanding each year.
9School officials visit each family to establish whether they can pay for the cost of education.
10The amount could be as high as $159 for a term.
11Irene Bangwell, the founder of Knosk, is a former teacher.
12She said the idea of a science high school for poor children came to her eight years ago.
13At the time, she took her child to a hospital and heard a cleaner there telling another patient that her young daughter was also a cleaner instead of being in school.
14Bangwell added, "When we decided to run the Knosk School, we had to ask ourselves what kind of education does (a) poor man's child need to break out of poverty."
15She says she plans to set up more such schools in Nigeria.
16At least 10.5 million children in Nigeria do not attend school.
17The United Nations said in January that is the highest rate in the world.
18Most affected are girls, children with disabilities and those from poor families.
19Students at Knosk spend 75 percent of their time studying STEM.
20When they finish their studies, each student has to develop a design of something they can use or continue to develop after school.
21For the cost of 25 cents a day, students are given clothes, books and food.
22Fausat Bakare is Faridat's mother.
23She believes her daughter's education at Knosk will help the family.
24"I believe that she will wipe away my tears, all my suffering will end through her,"
25Bakare said from her home as she selected cassava, a local vegetable, to sell at a market.
26I'm Susan Shand.
1Nigerian students who want to escape poverty can learn science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, for the cost of 100 naira, or about 25 cents, a day. 2Faridat Bakare is a 12-year-old student at Knosk Secondary School in Abuja. She started in the school in 2020, a year after it opened. She wants to be an engineer. 3In a technical lab at the school, she shows a design for a solar-powered car made from cardboard for her class project. 4"I want to become an electrical engineer who works with robots and solar panels and all the connections of all the snap circuits and ... things like that," said Bakare. She lives with her mother and four siblings in a poor neighborhood in Abuja. 5Knosk School runs largely on donations. The school currently has 82 students, but is expanding each year. School officials visit each family to establish whether they can pay for the cost of education. The amount could be as high as $159 for a term. 6Irene Bangwell, the founder of Knosk, is a former teacher. She said the idea of a science high school for poor children came to her eight years ago. At the time, she took her child to a hospital and heard a cleaner there telling another patient that her young daughter was also a cleaner instead of being in school. 7Bangwell added, "When we decided to run the Knosk School, we had to ask ourselves what kind of education does (a) poor man's child need to break out of poverty." 8She says she plans to set up more such schools in Nigeria. 9At least 10.5 million children in Nigeria do not attend school. The United Nations said in January that is the highest rate in the world. Most affected are girls, children with disabilities and those from poor families. 10Students at Knosk spend 75 percent of their time studying STEM. When they finish their studies, each student has to develop a design of something they can use or continue to develop after school. For the cost of 25 cents a day, students are given clothes, books and food. 11Fausat Bakare is Faridat's mother. She believes her daughter's education at Knosk will help the family. 12"I believe that she will wipe away my tears, all my suffering will end through her," Bakare said from her home as she selected cassava, a local vegetable, to sell at a market. 13I'm Susan Shand. 14Abraham Achirga of Reuters reported this story. Hai Do adapted the story for Learning English. 15__________________________________________________________________ 16solar - adj. producing by using the sun's light or heat 17cardboard - n. stiff and thick kind of paper used for making boxes 18snap circuits - n. pieces or parts that easily fit together 19sibling - n. a brother or sister