Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State yesterday unveiled a $25 million Lagos Education Access Fund (LEAF) aimed at expanding access to quality basic education and improving learning outcomes for children across the state.

The initiative launched at Lagos House, Marina, is expected to facilitate the enrolment of up to 50,000 out-of-school children aged between six and 14 years into formal education, while also strengthening foundational literacy and numeracy for about 150,000 pupils already in public schools.

The programme is being implemented through Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LSUBEB), in partnership with Education Outcomes Fund (EOF) and other development partners as part of efforts to promote inclusive and equitable basic education in the state.

Speaking at the unveiling, Sanwo-Olu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to ensuring that every child had access to free and quality basic education, describing education as a key driver of social mobility, human capital development, and economic growth.

He stated that the intervention built on the gains recorded under Project Zero, an initiative launched in 2021 to identify and reintegrate out-of-school children into the education system, through which over 36,000 children had been returned to the classrooms.

The governor added that the fund aligned with the state’s T.H.E.M.E.S+ development agenda, particularly its focus on education and technology as catalysts for building a knowledge-driven society.

He stated, “The importance of community participation in sustaining educational development, cannot be overemphasised. More than 360 parents and guardians have been trained in vocational skills, such as fashion designing, catering, soap making, and hairdressing to enhance their capacity to support their children’s education.”

Sanwo-Olu commended the development partners, including Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Federal Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for their contributions towards improving education outcomes in Lagos State.

Earlier, in his remarks, Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Jamiu Tolani Alli-Balogun, described LEAF as a transformational initiative capable of strengthening the state’s education ecosystem and accelerating access to quality learning opportunities.

Chief Executive Officer of Education Outcomes Fund, Amel Karboul, explained that the initiative was anchored on an innovative results-based financing model that prioritised measurable outcomes, such as enrolment, retention, and completion rates.

According to Karboul, “The programme will leverage data-driven technology and monitoring systems to ensure that children are not only enrolled, but remain in school and achieve improved learning outcomes.”

In her remarks, Eunice Ogolo announced the foundation’s $10 million support for the initiative, underscoring the urgency of addressing the challenge of out-of-school children.

Ogolo reaffirmed CIFF’s commitment, as an anchor funder, to supporting the vision of a Lagos where every child acquired basic literacy and numeracy skills and had the opportunity to thrive.