Nigerian school funded with plastic waste proceeds on the brink of collapse

Lagos, Nigeria – Mujanatu Musa’s one-roomed flat – built chiefly of rusty robust sheets – cuts a atrocious show successful Ajegunle, a sprawling slum successful Nigeria’s economical hub of Lagos.

Flanked by old, decrepit buildings, the makeshift operation shelters the 40-year-old parent and her 3 children, Abdulrahman, 12, and 9-year-old twins, Abdulwaris and Abdulmalik.

Since Musa and her hubby separated much than 3 years ago, the household has been surviving connected her irregular net of astir 2,000 naira ($1.30) a time from hairdressing work. In adust spells erstwhile determination are nary customers, she is forced to get wealth from neighbours, she said.

Times are pugnacious for the family, who acceptable into the fold of the 133 million, oregon 63 percent, of Nigeria’s colonisation surviving successful multidimensional poverty, according to authorities data.

If not for the privately tally schoolhouse successful the assemblage that charges debased tuition and allows underprivileged parents to wage schoolhouse fees with utilized integrative bottles, the children would person nary entree to ceremonial education, Musa said.

“Their begetter has near america since 2020. The integrative is what helps maine wage their tuition,” the parent told Al Jazeera.

“I couldn’t spend to nonstop them to school. My children and I are ever picking up utilized integrative bottles astir us.

“They cognize their acquisition depends connected it, and we adjacent spell to lawsuit venues to pick.”

Plastic for tuition

In Ajegunle and different parts of Lagos, privately tally and authorities schools co-exist, but parents similar the erstwhile due to the fact that astir nationalist schools are overstretched, which negatively affects the prime of acquisition the children get.

While each authorities schools successful Lagos are “free”, schoolhouse managements complaint astir 5,000 naira (about $3) per pupil per word to screen immoderate overhead costs.

The schoolhouse the Musas attend, Morit International School, is located astir 1km from their residence.

It was archetypal established arsenic a fee-paying schoolhouse successful 2010 by Patrick Mbamarah, a chemistry graduate. Tuition was initially 6,000 naira ($3.66) per term, but astir parents and guardians successful the country could not spend it.

After outstanding fees piled up and the losses started affecting the school, it was forced to unopen down successful 2012.

A pistillate sorts integrative discarded successful Ajegunle, Lagos, Nigeria [File: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters]

Mbamarah was capable to resume operations successful 2014, yet it was connected the verge of being crippled by indebtedness yet again erstwhile helium came up with a “plastic-for-tuition” initiative.

“I was walking down the thoroughfare 1 time erstwhile the show of integrative bottles scattered everyplace struck me,” helium told Al Jazeera. “This is money,” Mbamarah thought to himself.

He decided that for those who could not spend to wage tuition successful naira, he’d let them to wage successful utilized polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and sachet h2o waste, which the schoolhouse would cod and past nonstop retired for recycling – earning them immoderate money.

“I introduced it to the parents arsenic an alternate means of paying their children’s schoolhouse fees portion besides keeping the situation clean. They embraced the thought wholeheartedly,” Mbamarah said.

Growing up successful Ajegunle, a heavy populated low-income neighbourhood, Mbamarah mislaid his mode connected the streets arsenic a young person. He was hooked connected drugs and indulged successful different vices, which, helium said, astir wrecked him earlier acquisition helped springiness him a 2nd accidental astatine a decent life.

Buoyed by the resoluteness to forestall underprivileged children from suffering akin challenges helium faced arsenic a young person, helium established the superior school. He aboriginal founded a secondary schoolhouse successful the community, moving tirelessly to get some institutions running.

“We presently person 158 students: 112 successful the superior school, including my 3 kids, and 46 successful the secondary school. The tuition is present 10,000 naira (about $6) for superior schoolhouse and 21,000 naira ($13) for secondary schoolhouse per term. I don’t privation to complaint overmuch successful bid not to scare the parents away,” helium said.

“A kilogram of integrative bottles consists of 21 units sold for 100 naira. This means the tuition for a pupil is equivalent to 100kg,” helium explained, saying parents who take to wage successful integrative ever conscionable their quota.

Fears the schoolhouse could close

When Morit International archetypal started, determination were 5 pupils, including 1 of Mbamarah’s children. In the years since, enrolments person accrued and, with it, the measurement of integrative bottles astatine the schoolhouse has swelled.

While ordinarily this would beryllium a blessing, the outgo strategy has created logistical issues that person proven a bigger situation – and outgo – than Mbamarah anticipated.

Every week, parents bring successful the integrative payment, but determination is nary retention installation connected tract to support tonnes of bottles for days, Mbamarah explained.

Hiring a pick-up van to regularly transportation them to recycling points for merchantability comes astatine a immense outgo that considerably drains the school’s proceeds.

A fewer recyclers who supply specified work for escaped oregon astatine a small outgo lone travel for pick-up occasionally, helium added.

Workers astatine a recycle installation put integrative bottles successful Lagos [File: Temilade Adelaja/Reuters]

The logistics situation is present affecting schoolhouse operations. It has constricted the “plastic-for-tuition” inaugural to lone the superior school, putting the full task connected the cusp of extinction.

Mbamarah has besides had to chopped backmost connected the postulation of integrative bottles due to the fact that they extremity up littering the schoolhouse premises, causing biology problems the inaugural seeks to lick successful the archetypal place.

“Plastic discarded successful Ajegunle is huge, but we presently cod mode beneath what we should. We cod astir 500kg each 2 weeks, whereas we tin really get astatine slightest 2 tonnes [2,000 kg] per week,” helium said.

“Parents bring capable integrative bottles, but astir times they instrumentality them backmost location due to the fact that we don’t person abstraction to support them. I enactment with 2 recycling companies, but they hardly travel connected clip to pick. So some the schoolhouse and the parents often person excess integrative bottles.”

With the challenges and costs, the proprietor said he’s besides defaulting connected the repayment of loans helium took from 2 banks to wage rent and unit salaries.

He had borrowed 300,000 naira ($183) to renew the superior school’s yearly rent successful December 2023, portion that of the secondary schoolhouse gulps 800,000 naira ($488) annually.

“A clip volition travel erstwhile I won’t beryllium capable to wage the rent again, and they [the spot owners] volition conscionable inquire america to permission the schoolhouse premises. I fearfulness that successful a precise abbreviated clip I won’t beryllium capable to tally the [primary] schoolhouse again. I person been doing everything to chopped costs,” helium said.

Mbamarah said though the superior schoolhouse needs astatine slightest 11 teachers, “we lone person 5 teachers, including my woman and I”. The secondary schoolhouse has 7 teachers, erstwhile it needs a minimum of 12.

“I thatch successful some superior and secondary schools. A teacher teaches much than 2 subjects, and I americium inactive considering downsizing truthful I tin wage the staff. The region betwixt the 2 schools is astir an 18-minute walk. I shuttle some 3 times a day. For however agelong tin I bash that? I volition conscionable interruption down 1 day,” helium lamented.

‘It is getting worse’

Rhoda Adebayo, 1 of the schoolteachers, arsenic fears the concern could get retired of manus sooner than expected. When she joined the superior schoolhouse 2 years ago, she was teaching 7 subjects.

“Now I thatch 13 [subjects]. It is stressful, but the passionateness keeps maine going. Like Mr Patrick, I besides grew up successful Ajegunle. I cognize what galore children spell through. My wage is precise poor, but I find the [plastic-for-tuition] inaugural laudable and decided to assistance the children.

“The schoolhouse colonisation keeps growing. We person been managing the situation. Sadly, it is getting worse. The paucity of funds is truly telling connected the schoolhouse operations,” she said.

Mujanatu Musa and her household are disquieted astir wherever the children volition spell to schoolhouse if Morit International is forced to adjacent [Afeez Bolaji/Al Jazeera]

A mates of non-profits person promised to assistance the school, but nary person yet redeemed their promises, Mbamarah said. Some Lagos authorities authorities officials besides visited the schoolhouse past twelvemonth and promised to forge a partnership, though thing has happened since. However, immoderate individuals bash enactment the schoolhouse done donations, helium added.

The schoolhouse deserves each spot of enactment from individuals and firm bodies to enactment afloat and thrive, said Debo Adeniyi, the CEO and main sustainability pb astatine a nonprofit deliberation tank, the Centre for Global Solutions and Sustainable Development.

“The inaugural is highly commendable, and it helps the situation a lot. The magnitude of integrative that goes into the environment, particularly h2o bodies, volition reduce, and invariably, the biology interaction volition reduce,” helium said.

In the meantime, Adeniyi advised the schoolhouse to look for much recyclers to mitigate the trouble of storing integrative bottles.

“Imagine if 1 cardinal integrative bottles got disconnected the drainage system. More importantly, the inaugural is addressing the out-of-school children menace, which has go a superior situation successful Nigeria,” helium added.

For Musa and galore parents who could not spend their children’s tuition successful cash, a looming shutdown of the schoolhouse would spell doom.

Without Morit, the pupils whitethorn adhd to the alarming fig of out-of-school children aged 5–14 successful Nigeria, estimated astatine 10.5 million, according to UNICEF.

“I americium worried,” Musa declared, looking downcast.

“See my room,” she said, gesturing wrong her tiny apartment. “I don’t person immoderate appliances there. No television, nary fan, nothing. The consolation is that my children are successful school.

“Abdulrahman is successful Primary 4, and his siblings, the twins, are successful Primary 2. Where volition I find wealth to nonstop them to different schoolhouse if this 1 shuts down?”