September 11, 2024

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General News

Tinubu approves additional funding for empowering adolescent girls

By Salisu Sani-Idris

President Bola Tinubu on Monday approved additional funding for the training and empowerment of adolescent girls in the country.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed this while addressing State House Correspondents on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The minister said: “Two things I want to mention and comment on, which are very important parts of the deliberations and resolutions in the council today.

“One, is additional funding for the training and empowerment of adolescent girls in Nigeria. One of the major policies of government is to target the education, training and empowerment of young girls into society.

“Initially from seven participating states, we will now have about 11 additional states participating in this project, which will lead to the empowerment of girls between 10 and 20, right across the participating states.”

Mamman explained that as a major escalation of the programme, it was meant to empower girls, teachers and the provision for additional schools in the country.

He also said that President Tinubu’s administration was working assiduously to reduce the incidents of out-of-school children in the country.

“It is actually quite in line with part of the agenda of this government to ensure that the number of girls and people who are out-of-school is reduced, if not eliminated altogether.

“Today, the council took a very major decision to review policy so that the Public Procurement Act is brought into practice as it were, as to the handling of projects and government activities in Nigeria”.

He said this would enable the Public Procurement Council to exercise its powers under the Act, and then the council would now concentrate on issues of national importance and issues of policy.

On his part, Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, confirmed that FEC approved funding for training and empowerment of adolescent girls.

Edu disclosed that he presented five memos at the FEC meeting, which were gracefully approved.

He said that the memos had to do with concessional and zero-interest financing by the World Bank and the International Development Association, which was the very concessional financing arm.

The minister said that the projects approved for funding were in the power and the renewable energy sectors.

Edu further said there was funding provision for states for resource mobilization programme to help them with their internally-generated revenue efforts.

“There was a project for adolescent girls’ initiative for learning and empowerment, essentially, as it says, it is a programme to support young girls from the age of 11, secondary school age.

It is to ensure that at the end of their schooling, they have one skill or the other that is marketable, as well as the academic laurels.

The minister also disclosed that the FEC approved funds for the financing of women projects as additional ventures.

“The first one was very successful. It was all about empowering women, upscaling their skills level, and of course, giving them some financial inclusion, including in the banking system.

“So those were five loans totaling $3.45 billion. And as you know, the tenure is all around 40 years, moratorium period of around 10 years and interest very low, or in the cases of the loans, zero interest, although some fees would be incurred,” Edu said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Mark Longyen/Idris Abdulrahman

A participant making a comment during a training of secondary school staff members from Kaduna North Senatorial District on School Related Gender-Based Violence Safeguarding in Zaria
Gender , General News

AGILE trains 30,000 academic, non-academic staff on curbing GBV

By Philip Yatai

The World Bank-supported Kaduna State Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project is training 30,000 academic and non-academic staff of secondary schools on School Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) Safeguarding.

The AGILE GBV Officer, Hajiya Aisha Mohammed stated this in Zaria on Tuesday, during the training of 1,663 secondary school staff members from Kaduna North Senatorial District on SRGBV safeguarding.

Mohammed identified the staff as principals of government secondary school, Grievance Redress Mechanism Officials and Guidance and Counselling Officers.

She said that 300 staff members within the Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone have been trained, adding that others within Kaduna South Senatorial Zone would also be trained until the 30,000 staff were covered.

This, according to her, is part of efforts by the AGILE project to ensure SRGBV prevention and mitigation such that all adolescent girls in the state would be able to attend secondary schools safely.

She explained that the training was critical following the significant infrastructural investments and upgrades being undertaken by the Kaduna AGILE project in 550 secondary schools, with an accompanying increase in the number of workers.

The GBV officer explained that AGILE’s objective is to improve secondary education opportunities among adolescent girls by addressing constraints that limit adolescent girls’ ability to complete secondary school.

Speaking on the state’s SRGBV Safeguarding Code of Conduct (CoC), Hajiya Zainab Maina-Lukat, the project’s Technical Assistant on System Strengthening, said that each of the 30,000 staff would sign the CoC.

Maina-Lukat reiterated that in all, the CoC has 15 commitments to which all staff and site workers would be expected to adhere to as part of effort to prevent SRGBV in schools.

She explained that the CoC was based on the Kaduna State’s Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law, Child Welfare and Protection Law, GBV prevention policies as well as the State’s and National Teachers’ Policies.

She disclosed that among the CoC’s commitments, staff and site workers were required to refrain from any form of sexual exploitation and abuse, inappropriate sexual behaviour or act(s) toward students or staff.

The technical assistant also said that the CoC also prohibits the use of sexually suggestive language and inappropriate physical contact with students, including beating of any student.

“The SRGBV training and CoC is an excellent example of a collective process and action of deepening safeguarding measures within education sector agencies.

“The agencies include the Teachers Service Board, State Universal Basic Education Board, and the Kaduna State Quality Assurance Authority.

“Other agencies include the Ministry of Human Services and Social Development, Ministry for Justice, and Ministry for Health as well as the Partnership for Education for All in Nigeria programme,” she said.

Mr Joseph Damola, one of the facilitators at the training, noted that access to justice plays an important role in the fight to end GBV in schools and communities.

“It is important to have a well-coordinated and integrated justice response system. This will enhance the conviction of perpetrators and contribute to safety and well-being of survivors,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the UN said GBV is the most pervasive yet least visible human rights violation in the world.

It includes physical, sexual, mental, or economic harm inflicted on a person because of socially ascribed power imbalances between males and females.

It also includes the threat of violence, coercion, and deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Sadiya Hamza

Education

World Bank to construct 159 schools, renovate 69 others in Kaduna

By Philip Yatai

The World Bank, Adolescent Girls Initiative and Empowerment (AGILE), is to construct 90 Junior Secondary Schools (JSS), 69 Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) and renovate 69 others in Kaduna State.

AGILE Project Coordinator in the state, Mr Habibu Alhassan, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) In Kaduna on Wednesday.

Alhassan explained that the five-year project was designed to ensure that the girl child, aged 10 to 20 years was enrolled, retained, and supported to complete senior secondary school education.

He said that the construction of the new schools and the renovations of existing ones was to create additional learning space and make available spaces conducive and comfortable for the girl child to learn.

He added that the project would also provide a form of scholarship to support girls that were prevented from attending schools due to hawking and other commercial activities at home.

This, according to him, will enable the parents to allow such girls to enroll in school, remain in school, complete secondary school education, and become useful to their self, their family, and their community.

He also said that the project would equally empower the girl child with livelihood and life skills to enable her live well in the society.

He said that although the goal was to improve secondary education opportunities among girls, the boy child would equally benefit from the project.

“We are still at the preparatory stage. The Work Plan has been developed and undergoing review, while the Project Implementation Manual is being developed by the National Head Office.

“Project Appraisal and other relevant documents had also been developed.

“We have just finished going round the three Senatorial Zones of the state to get the buy-in of critical stakeholders and domesticate the National School-Based Management Committees Manual.

The project coordinator said that the state government has fulfilled all required conditions to participate in the project.

“One of the conditions was the state government’s commitment to recruit teachers that will teach in the newly constructed schools.

“You may be aware that the state government is currently concluding recruitment exercise of 7,600 qualified secondary school teachers, more than the about 2,000 teachers required by the AGILE project.

“The state government has also committed to paying any compensation that may arise due to expansion of school spaces and has also provided office space for the Project implementation Unit.

“Gov. Nasir el-Rufa’i has also allocated N47 million in the 2021 Budget to ensure smooth take-off of the project,” he added.

NAN reports that the 500 million dollar’s project (N190 billion at N380 to a dollar) will support access to secondary education and empowerment for adolescent girls in seven states namely Kano, Kebbi, Kaduna, Katsina, Borno, Plateau and Ekiti.

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri had in 2020 explained that the AGILE project would use secondary school as a platform to empower girls through education, life skills, health, and education.

Chaudhuri added that other areas would include nutrition, reproductive health, gender-based violence awareness and prevention, negotiations skills, self-agency, and digital literacy skills.

“Specifically, the project will benefit about 6.7 million adolescents and 15.5 million direct project beneficiaries which will include families and communities in participating states.

“The project entails building more than 5,500 JSS and 3,300 classrooms for SSS, as well as improving 2,786 JSS and 1,914 SSS with safe, accessible, and inclusive infrastructure.

“About 340,000 girls will receive life skills training in safe spaces, which will help them navigate challenges in life. This will incorporate health and key information on climate change, safety, and gender-based violence awareness.

“To help girls thrive in the digital economy, 300,000 girls will receive digital literacy training and offer half a million girls from the poorest households’ financial incentives to support their retention and completion of secondary school,” he said. (NAN)

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