ADAMAWA STATE PARTNERS NGO ON GENDER EQUALITY EDUCATIONÂ
From Emmanuel Samuel, YolaÂ
In a renewed effort towards ensuring equality and achieving desired results in girl child education, the Gender Centre Initiative (GCI), had held a high level meeting on gender responsive education sector planning in Adamawa state.
The sensitization meeting was aimed at rubbing shoulders with stakeholders on responsive education planning in the midst of COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Gender Centre Initiative (GCI) is a global alliance of civil society and international organizations working in eight pilot countries across sub-Saharan Africa to mobilize the necessary political leadership and expertise at country level to rapidly step up progress for gender equality through education.
Speaking at the occasion, Hajiya Jiddere Kaibo, the Led Consortium GCI, said that the aim of the programme was to support the ministry of education to strengthen attention to gender in the development, implementation and monitoring of education plans.
Kaibo prevailed on decision makers to always ensure gender balance in the centre of their decision making. According to her, the GCI is ready to ensure quality education for boys and girls as the fundamental right, especially now that some of the children are out of school due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Mrs Kaibo who is also the coordinator of Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), in Nigeria regretted that despite awareness and campaigns, there is still a long way to go in achieving girl child education. She was emphatic that to achieve desired result, all hands must be on deck, “Government and other stakeholders must do the needful in ensuring girl child education.”
In her comment, Mrs Wilbina Jackson, Commissioner of Education and Human Capital Development revealed that Adamawa State Government had already pledged to ensure that gender equality is sustained and given popularity in the State Educational system.
She said the stategovernment was collaborating with NGO’S and stakeholders towards the development of the education sector, especially girl-child education in the state. The Commissioner noted that the state government would ensure the success of the program to enable girl-child contribute its quota to the development of the state.
” This administration has done a lot to ensuring girl child education and the door is open to collaborate with all stakeholders towards the development of the education sector,” she said.
Dr Salihi Ateequ, Chairman Adamawa Universal Basic Education Board, in his remark, urged all stakeholders to encourage girl-child education especially at the grassroots adding that it was sad that the girl-child was at the receiving end on the problem of early marriage.
