The NNPC/CNL Science Teachers Scheme is part of a company-supported effort to halt deteriorating standards of education in secondary schools in Nigeria, particularly in rural areas. Many secondary schools in the company’s areas of operation in the Eastern and Western Niger Delta lack adequate teaching facilities. In addition, because the communities are often remote, teachers have been reluctant to accept such postings. CNL initiated the program in August 1997 to help address this situation. The effort targets science, English, and mathematics graduates serving under the government’s mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
CNL is collaborating with the government under a special arrangement that deploys these graduates to schools in the company’s areas of operation. The arrangement includes payment of special stipends by the company and provision of other incentives to encourage young teachers to take such positions in the subject areas of science, English, and math.
The project has been one of the most successful private-sector efforts to educate youths in Nigeria’s rural areas. Reports from the various schools and communities indicate improved performance by the children, particularly in the sciences, while truancy and dropout rates have fallen sharply. Equally important, parents have shown growing interest in children’s education.