By Khalid Idris Doya The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project in Bauchi State has engaged ...
By Khalid Idris Doya
The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project in Bauchi State has engaged school leaders including principals, School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs), and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) on the importance of life skills training for adolescent girls.
The engagement aimed to clarify their roles in the implementation process, ensure stakeholder buy-in, and foster collaborative support for the initiative.
Speaking during the stakeholder engagement and sensitisation session on the implementation of life skills training yesterday, the Bauchi State AGILE Project Coordinator, Ladi Mohammed Hamma, said the engagement was designed to build a support network among school leaders for continued collaboration, sharing of best practices, and tackling implementation challenges.
She explained that it also served to familiarise participants with the content and methodology of the Bauchi State Life Skills Training Manual, which is based on the "safe space" approach.
Hamma noted that the training is essential for empowering adolescent girls and equipping school leaders to create and maintain safe, supportive environments for girls' development.
According to her the project will commence disbursement Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) grants for the 1, 003 for small and medium schools of adolescent girls in Bauchi state in the first week of next month of August.
Ladi Mohammed Hamma, however that based on the validation exercise they have been conducting for the past three weeks, there are hard to reach schools in some areas due to the current rainy season.
The Coordinator added that the hard to reach areas was the major challenge the program has so far experienced, hence other exercises have been successes and successes all through since its commencement.
"We are dealing with adolescent girls, there are some things which would have these adolescent girls to grow and become good citizens of the society, such things are like for a girl to know how to take decision for herself, among others".
"They include to know who she is, to have self esteem, to take care of themselves, and to teach them some little skills acquisition, so that they can take care of themselves, and complement the efforts of their parents," she noted.
The coordinator revealed that the program would also empower them with little materials for the startup, describing the project as very significant to the beneficiaries and the society at large.
She also disclosed that the program has so far selected 100 schools across the state for the life skills programme under which is also save space for the adolescent girls to be provided with space for it to take place.
Ladi Mohammed Hamma also described the PTA and SBMC as the heart of the schools, having been eyes on the happenings in the schools, hence their collaboration with the project.
Also speaking, the State Technical Officer 1 with the State Primary Healthcare Board, Sabuwar Tahir, supporting the ministry of education with the AGILE project which has three major components and divided into sub-components for effective implementation.
Describing AGILE as a multisectoral project that will be implemented across ministries, the technical officer said that health and education are almost the same thing, hence her collaboration with the programme.
Sabuwa Tahir explained that save life skills component entails a kind of training for adolescent girls for them to get all the necessary skills that would help them navigate through the challenges of adolescence as adaptive abilities that one can critically and creativity use to solve problem.
For his part, Bauchi State Commissioner of Education, Dr. Lawal Mohammed Rimin Zayam had earlier stated that his ministry is poised to support the program and to enlighten on the save life skills as enshrined in the components for the AGILE to excell.
He explained that the Bauchi state government under the able leadership of Governor Bala Mohammed is very passionate to ensure that the AGILE program sail through its desired objectives.
Rimin Zayam said, "Bauchi AGILE is number three (3) rising AGILE among the additional eleven states in the federation", stressing that the feat was achieved through the untiring of His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Bauchi state.
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