Educational Needs: 
​A 2015 UK study reported that 51% of children age 6-16 in Ebonyi State, Nigeria could not read as of 2010 and 32% did not attend school with higher truancy rates in rural areas.  The same study indicated that although there is "free" compulsory education in Nigeria, schooling was not actually free because families still had to pay fees for things such as uniforms and supplies.  Families have to pay for books, writing materials and even the paper to take exams.  In 2016 Ebonyi State handed over administration of some of its more problematic public schools that serve the poor to the Catholic Church.  Fr. Edward has been appointed the director of education for the vast Diocese of Abakaliki which at 2, 298 square miles is larger than Ebonyi State and the U.S. states of Rhode Island and Delaware.  As a result of the 2016 hand over he is tasked with overseeing the educational welfare of children regardless of their faith affiliation. 

MMCF assists in the support of a 926 all boys vocational, boarding school in the village of Afikpo, Ebonyi State.  In 2018 MMCF provided funding to help rebuild a school dormitory at Ehugbo Technical College, a junior and senior high school in Afikpo, as well as  providing books and class room supplies to various schools.  Currently, MMCF's assistance is helping to rebuild a dormitory at Mater Misericordiae Nursing School. 

MMCF also provides scholarships to attend Ehugbo Technical College  and Mater Misericordiae Nursing School. Your donation in the amount of only US$400 will cover expenses for one student to attend Ehugbo Technical  College for one year.  Your donation of US $826 would pay for one student to attend nursing school for one year.

Angela Testani, eight students in their school uniform from Bishop T. McGettrick's Memorial Catholic Girl's Secondary School in Afikpo and Fr. Raphael, the school principal.

Angela Testani gives a tour of an all-boys vocational, boarding school in Afikpo, Ebonyi State

MMCF's High School Scholarships:
MMCF with the assistance of the parishioners of St. Raymond's Catholic Church in Menlo Park, CA has established a scholarship for students to pay the cost of tuition and board for them to attend and complete the six years of  "high school" at Catholic boarding schools.  The quality of education and opportunities at these boarding schools are transformational for the students who come from the neediest among the rural poor as compared with the "free" public school education they would be receiving at their local schools.  The annual cost including tuition and board is currently about $350 per student which is only a small fraction of a private high school education in the United States. 

While traditionally in Nigeria, the formal education of girls may not have been as encouraged as that of boys, Fr. Edward explained that in order to educate the next generation of men to recognize the importance of quality education for girls,  young boys from rural communities also need better educational opportunities and cannot be neglected in MMCF's mission to provide for the educational needs of Nigeria's rural population.  So MMCF's scholarships are awarded to both girls and boys to cover the FULL costs of their ENTIRE high schoiol education.    

MMCF is currently transforming the educational needs of four girls and two boys from Ebonyi State by funding the entire cost of their high school education.

MMCF Scholarship Recipient since Fall 2021: Ede Oruomachi Rita. Rita is attending St. Theresa Secondary School, Okpaugugwu Abakaliki, Ebonyi. She recently completed her first year of senior secondary school and as of Fall 2025 term will be in her second year of Senior secondary school.

MMCF Scholarship Recipient since Fall 2021: Promise Aswan. Promise is attending St. Theresa Secondary School, Okpaugugwu Abakaliki, Ebonyi. He recently completed his first year of Senior secondary school finishing first out of a class of 51 and as of Fall 2025 term will be attending his second year of Senior secondary school.

MMCF Scholarship Recipient since Fall 2022: Bridget Ofoke. Bridget is attending Annunciation Secondary School, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki, Ebonyi and has recently completed her third year of Junior secondary school and as of Fall 2025 term will be in her first year of Senior Secondary school..

MMCF Scholarship Recipient since Fall 2022: Richard Eji. Richard is attending Annunciation Secondary School, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki, Ebonyi and has recently completed his second year of Junior secondary school and as of Fall 2025 term will have advanced to his third year level at Annunciation School.

MMCF Scholarship Recipient since Fall 2023: Happiness Chiemerie Owoh. Happiness is attending Bishop McGettrick Girls Secondary School, Afikpo, Ebonyi and has recently completed her second year of Junior secondary school with an A average and ranking first out of 45 students. As of Fall 2025 term she will have advanced to her third year.

MMCF Scholarship Recipient since Fall 2023: Deborah Eleje Elechi. Deborah is attending Bishop McGettrick Girls Secondary School, Afikpo, Ebonyi and has recently completed her second year of Junior secondary school and as of Fall 2025 term will have advanced to her third year.