Project_Inspire speaks Teacher Swanta

Determined to create a different experience for children in rural communities, Teacher Swanta has been championing equal access to quality education in Northern Nigeria. Today she shares her journey with Project_Inspire 

PROJECT_INSPIRE: Can we meet you?

  Teacher Swanta : I am Swanta Blessing Bonat popularly known as Teacher Swanta. A 32-year-old Atyap girl from Southern Kaduna of Northwest Nigeria. I am the 4th of 6 children. I am a certified and licensed teacher with the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria and have worked in eight schools spread across Plateau State, Kaduna State, Kebbi State and the FCT in the capacity of a Class Assistant, a Class Teacher, House Mistress, Hostel Administrator, School Administrator and School Manager respectively. I am also a nomad teacher, education consultant, rural education activist and have serve on the board of Thinking Cap Literacy Initiative. I currently live and work in Kafanchan as Executive Director of Community Outreach for Educational Change (COEC) and the School Manager of a school I own in Tagama, Samaru Atyap of Zangon Kataf LGA of Kaduna State. I love adventures, solving problems, quality conversations, eating good food, singing, sewing and interior design.

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: Tell us briefly your childhood experience.

  Teacher Swanta: My childhood was filled with farm work, house chores, singing, entrepreneurship and building relationships with family and friends while getting an education.

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: What’s your educational background?

  Teacher Swanta : Knowing the importance quality education, my parents gave us the best they could afford. Even though my Dad left the scene when I was 7 years old, my widowed mum ensured that we went to private schools, as the public-school system was and is still very terrible. Not many children in my community had the same opportunity and since education was not a priority for some, teenage pregnancies, early marriages, substance abuse and thuggery were prevalent. My siblings and I didn’t take school for granted. I went to Head Start Academy Ungwan Wakili in Zangon Kataf LGA of Kaduna State for primary school, then ECWA Staff School Jos, Plateau State for Secondary School, University of Jos for my first degree in Education and a second degree in Christian Education from the Jos ECWA Theological Seminary. I have undergone series of trainings and workshops which have given me the courage to dare the odds in the teaching profession.

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: What are your contributions towards making Nigeria a better place?

  Teacher Swanta : My initial career choice was journalism. As a young girl who grew up in a rural community, I looked forward to the evening news at ten o’clock and dreamt of becoming the best investigative journalist of my time. I desired to share people’s stories and positively touch lives. That changed after I was granted admission into a private tertiary institution to study Education instead. Disappointed, I left after a semester but returned a year later with a defined purpose when I realized that studying Education would still give me the chance to make a difference in the lives of others, which was what I truly wanted. To this day, it is one of the best decisions I ever have made. After teaching in several schools, something remarkable happened that made me even more deliberate in my approach to be the change I sought to see. I had accepted the role of a Hostel Administrator in one of the prestigious international schools in Abuja and eight months in, while planning the graduation ceremony for the students, I realized that most of them already had admissions waiting for them in universities within and outside Nigeria. I became troubled at the thought that their peers from low-income families and rural communities had the opposite experience. I immediately put in my resignation and was determined to see how much I could do to help rural children have access to basic literacy skills starting from my rural hometown. This gave birth to my non-profit called Community Outreach for Educational Change (COEC). COEC exists to create quality classroom experiences and intentional role modelling; influence, change narratives and ultimately champion educational best practices as a response to the fourth global Sustainable Development Goal. Education and teaching have been my tools to drive change and contribute my own quota in nation building and problem solving. 

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: What have your achievements been? 

Teacher Swanta :One of my greatest achievements as a teacher is that I have inspired other teachers to pursue excellence. Since 2016, we have had educational interventions and have supported various rural community schools to improve the quality of education they offer their learners through teacher trainings, provision of teaching materials and aides and also we have set up learning centers with conducive teaching environment for the learners. Through all these, COEC has reached over 10,000 rural school children and over 2000 teachers spread across over 6 States and various communities. Our Teacher Volunteer Network helped us to directly influence learning outcomes, improve enrollment to school and provide Learning Materials, school uniforms, sandals, pipe borne water and a reconstructed well for clean drinking water in schools. We have also held various teacher retraining programmes through a weekly Teacher Development Forum and an annual Teachers’ Meet. Through our campaigns namely #GetASchoolChildOffTheFloor; #FedToLearn; and #PayARuralTeacher we have provided classroom furniture, 100 mattresses for hostels, salary support for teachers and have fed 184 school children free meals (Breakfast and Lunch with Eggs). Our Scholarship Hub has placed over 18 deserving rural kids in better schools. Through our Extreme Makeover – School Edition project, we carried out the total rehabilitation of a classroom into a Literacy Centre equipped with painted and decorated walls, Cable TV, a plasma, a mini Library, bulletin boards, a curriculum package and classroom furniture to enhance the teaching of basic literacy skills. Our Community Innovation Lab in Kafanchan currently caters to school children and teachers through teacher trainings, literacy lessons, a public Library, a language academy, entrepreneurship/skills acquisition and digital skills training. We also just started COEC Model Schools in rural Southern Kaduna to uphold our commitment in giving quality education to children in rural communities. In 2018, I started The Teachers’ Meet event to help teachers in rural communities with 21st century best practices. After our first meeting, one teacher was inspired to start a school in the rural community he was teaching. He began with just one pupil that September. At the 2019 Teachers’ Meet, his school had grown from one pupil to sixty-nine pupils. I can already imagine the generations of Nigerians that will be nurtured through his institution. He requested for my mentorship and guidance and we have been working together since then to ensure that the school functions as it should.

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: What motivated you to do what you are doing?

  Teacher Swanta :I keep saying that I believe the call to “teacherhood” came to me with a burden. When I realized that I was meant to be a teacher, I started connecting the dots and became conscious of the issue that plagued me while I was growing up in my rural hometown. Not many children in my community had the chance that my sisters and I had to go to good schools and I noticed the differences and the imbalance between us and the other kids whenever we came home for holidays. I dreaded coming home because there were always stories of girls my age and even younger getting pregnant and mostly shipped to the boy’s family for “marriage” and young boys becoming addicted to substances and turned beggars, thieves or thugs. It bothered me that young women especially, did not seem to have any other options than early marriages that turned them into baby making machines (farmers’ wives/petty traders for those that are lucky) till they died. It was unsettling to say the least but I saw the power of education because I was experiencing it first hand and saw how it was making me different from the others and I got the conviction that I was going to turn out differently no matter what. I vowed to get many more from rural communities educated, empowered and liberated just like I was opportune to enjoy. This conviction influenced all my decisions from then on and has brought me thus far.

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: What has been your major challenge since you began your non-profit organization?

  Teacher Swanta : The journey has been tough. It was especially tough re-adjusting to life without an income and leaving the luxuries of city life to rural living. Finance has been a major challenge. Even though we have donors but in recent times, donations have been slowed down because of the present economic realities. Another challenge we have faced is the issue of acceptance. One would think that communities would gladly accept our initiative but that has not been our experience everywhere. Building the right team hasn’t been rosy. Not everyone is willing to leave the comfort of their homes in urban areas and move to remote communities where basic social amenities might not be readily available.

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: Many young people have great ideas, but lack of funds is always a stumbling block. What’s your advice in this regard? 

Teacher Swanta : It is rare to have a situation where everything you need financially is at your disposal before you launch your idea. You have to start first and things will take shape in the process. If you have a paid job, save consistently (no matter how little) towards launching out and do not be scared to start small and allow the process to help you grow.

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: How have you been able to raise money to implement your ideas? 

Teacher Swanta : By God’s grace I have come this far because of people's good will and support. Kind-hearted individuals within and outside Nigeria have given to support our cause. I have raised money solely been through social media and now through a GoFundMe account. We are currently working on The School Project which is setting up a school for children in rural communities of Southern Kaduna. We have a GoFundMe with a target of £20, 000. You can be part of this history making adventure by donating. 

PROJECT_INSPIRE: Could you please share with us one or two experience(s) you have had in the course of your campaign that has/have impacted on you?

  Teacher Swanta : The level of trust people have in us to carry out the mandate is overwhelming. One time, I made a post on social media about what I was doing and I got a message from someone requesting for my account number to support our work. He sent me #40, 000 to meet some of the needs of my learners and # N10,000 as a personal appreciation for the work I was doing. This meant a lot to me because it was the first donation I received. 

PROJECT_INSPIRE: What are your prospects in the next 5 or 10 years?

  Teacher Swanta : In the next 5 or 10 years, COEC would have reached more rural communities in Northwest Nigeria and would have many literacy centers spread across many of the villages that do not have schools or access to any. We also look forward to having a permanent site for our office and group of schools. We would have also graduated the first set of students at our secondary school and secured scholarships for them to higher institutions within and outside the country.

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: What would you say is the role of the youth in national development? 

Teacher Swanta : Because Nigerian youths are innovative, I believe that we can become great problem solvers, thinking and acting locally for global impact. 

  PROJECT_INSPIRE: How can you be reached in social media? 

Teacher Swanta :Instagram and Twitter: @ teacherswanta Facebook and LinkedIn: Swanta Blessing Bonat

  PROJECT_INSPIRE:The final word for the Nigerian youth. 

Teacher Swanta : Know what makes you tick, choose a path, ignore limitations and always show up. Build a social capital because after your skill and talent, character is the fuel that will keep propelling you to cover the distance towards your destination.

PROJECT_INSPIRE:  Thank you for sharing your story with us.

Teacher Swanta : You're welcome