Stand Firm for Girls’ Education, Minister Tasks Stakeholders

Stand Firm for Girls’ Education, Minister Tasks Stakeholders

…set to launch new programme targeting girls’ education

BY HENRY TYOHEMBA, Abuja

Minister of State for Education, Prof. Suwaiba Ahmed has urged stakeholders to remain resolute in challenging the barriers that affect girls’ education.

The Minister who stated this at the re-launch of the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project on Friday in Abuja, themed “Madubi: Empowering Girls, Transforming Communities,” in Abuja on Friday.

She also disclosed that the Federal Government is planning takeoff of a new education initiative, LUMINA.

The LUMINA, he said would specifically target the provision of education and vocational training opportunities for girls in hard-to-reach locations.

According to her, there is a need to ensure girls in hard-to-reach locations get educated.

The minister, who maintained that every young child deserves a chance to dream, noted that the government must support girls to actualize their dreams by ensuring increased enrollment, retention, and completion of adolescent girls’ education.

“At the ministry, we are coming up with another initiative called ‘LUMINA’ that targets girls in hard-to-reach locations to provide them with opportunities for education and vocational training.

“This programme that we will launch is not only for the girls, but it’s also for their mothers. It’s also for the adolescent girls, and girls who have dropped out of school for one reason or another.”

Also speaking, the National Project Coordinator of AGILE, Mrs. Amina Haruna, revealed that the AGILE project had helped enroll 3.9 million girls in secondary schools across 18 states.

She noted that over one million girls had graduated from life skills and digital literacy acquisition trainings under the AGILE the programme.

“We have constructed and completed over 200 Junior and Senior Secondary Schools, renovated 8,800 WASH/toilet facilities with boreholes and solar facilities.

“More than 460,949 furniture has been provided. AGILE has recruited and deployed 16,232 teachers with 50 per cent of these figures being female.

“53,491 teaching and learning materials were also provided to Schools for effective and efficient teaching and learning.”