By Jessica John Bakari
The Commissioner of Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Umar Garba Pella, emphasized the necessity of ensuring the sustainability of the AGILE project for the comprehensive development of the girl child in Adamawa state.
This call was made during the engagement and sensitization of one hundred selected senior secondary school principals on life skills programs across the twenty-one local governments.
The event was organized by the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development and took place at the Universal Basic Education Conference Hall.
The engagement also included the sensitization of zonal quality assurance officers on the roles and responsibilities of school-based management committees and the appointment of five zonal school-based management committee desk officers.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Hajiya Aisha Umar, Dr. Pella revealed that the project aims to ensure that the girl child has access to quality education through appropriate enrollment. Additionally, the AGILE project will provide a stipend to encourage girls to attend and stay in school.
Dr. Pella appealed to school-based management committees and principals to raise awareness about the importance of the project.
Dr. Pella commended Governor Ahmadu Umar Finitiri for his efforts and solicited the support and cooperation of all stakeholders for the success and smooth implementation of the AGILE project.
The project coordinator of the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), Engineer Siddiki Liman, mentioned that the project is being funded by the World Bank and supported by the Adamawa State government.
He explained that eleven states, including Adamawa, are beneficiaries of the AGILE project and advised the benefiting principals and school management committees to reciprocate Governor Ahmadu Umar Finitiri’s effort by taking ownership and ensuring the sustainability of the project.
Mr. Bathon Hyelda, the monitoring and evaluation officer, stated that the objective of the AGILE project is to improve secondary education opportunities among girls in the targeted states from the ages of ten to nineteen years.
Some of the principals of the benefiting schools, Mrs. Tadakapwa Enson from Villanova Government College Numan and Samuel Enesimouse from Government Day Secondary School Gorobi, expressed their appreciation for Governor Ahmadu Umar Finitiri’s efforts in educating the girl child, especially those who are out of school.