The Godfrey Tare Pondi Educational Foundation has paved a new path for quality learning in riverine communities through its recently commissioned renovated classroom block that is equipped with digital library, solar system, along with a playground in Kurutie Federated Community's Jeijei Primary School and Boughawei Secondary School in the ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, a model that could well be regarded as the new blueprint for adoption in the educational sector for pupils and students in the coast.

For long, education in the riverine communities could well be described as "third class" as learners encumbered various external challenges in the course of learning, ranging from shortage of teachers, lack of or dilapidated school structures, and the absence of learning facilities such as library, laboratory, among others that are supposed to enhance knowledge.

Moreover, pupils and students, asides the above external challenges, struggled with personal challenges such as the lack of writing materials (bags, pens, books, sandals, mathematical sets, etc.) including school uniforms, due to the high poverty level of parents whose main and only source of living is either fish farming or retail trading.

Over the years, agitation in the educational sector has been met with little or no attempt by the relevant authorities to address the main issues, thereby forcing stakeholders in the affected communities and other nongovernmental organisations, such as the Godfrey Tare Pondi Educational Foundation, to take it upon their shoulders to contribute their quota to enhance quality education for learners in the coast.

It would be recalled that another organisation, the Tompolo Foundation, in collaboration with the Gbaramatu Youth Council (GYC) led by Comrade Egbejule Arerebo Kingsley, have also intervened, especially in addressing the external challenge of the dearth of teachers by recruiting private teachers to teach in government schools. In addition, the teachers, under the payroll of the TF were given accommodations and other stipends to boost their morale on the job, a move that community and other stakeholders acknowledged has improved learning.

There are other several organisations too, such as the Chief (Comrade) Sheriff Mulade intervention that organises the annual Sheriff Mulade Quiz and Essay Competitions; the Kokodiagbene Elites Association (KEA) chaired Engr. Peter Ekpetipu that has embarked on educational initiatives especially in training teachers on 21st century teaching methodology, and the Dubri Timiyan Foundation established by Comrade Doubra Timiyan that has embarked on educational initiatives for pupils and students in the coast.

But the recently embarked initiative by the Godfrey Tare Pondi Educational Foundation tagged "Powering Education: Lighting the Path to Digital Learning in Kurutie," on Friday, May 29, 2026, has further laid the foundation for quality learning in riverine communities in the 21st century. The Foundation's commissioning of the project is a bold attempt to rewrite the narrative and to change the educational landscape for learning. For the first time, foundational learners will not only hear, but will have hands-on experience on computers unhindered with constant solar power supply. Also, through ICT training and a teachers seminar, educators were equipped to be better on the job.

In addition, the Godfrey Tare Pondi Educational Foundation held an educative session with parents of pupils and students to abreast them of the roles they too have to play toward improving the education of their wards, with the Foundation wrapping up the initiative with donation of school bags and other writing materials including sandals manufactured by the popular Celebrity Shoemaker, Mr. Wisdom Felix.

Kudos to Chief Godfrey Tare Pondi, the General Manager of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, and the Ibe-Ebidouwei of ancient Gbaramatu Kingdom for giving an opportunity to the grassroots with a bold attempt to do what the relevant authorities have failed to do over the years. According to the United Nations, education is a fundamental human right essential for achieving all other fundamental rights, lifting individuals out of poverty, reducing inequalities, and fostering sustainable development. This right is legally binding, requiring states to provide free, compulsory education and eliminate all forms of discrimination in learning. This is ratified by Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948), the UNESCO Convention Against Discrimination in Education (CADE, 1960); Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989), as well as Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which calls for "inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all" by 2030.

This is therefore a call on the relevant authorities in the state to give priority to education in the riverine areas, more especially when most communities are oil-bearing and are also contributing through the blue economy to the treasury of the oil-producing states in the Niger Delta region. Asides the government, other stakeholders such as oil companies and well-to-do individuals should borrow leaf from Chief Pondi and others who are, by their interventions, lighting the path to quality education for riverine and rural dwellers.

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