By Ahmed Ahmed
Malam Ali Gar, the Bauchi state Coordinator of the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning (AGILE) project has lamented the inability to fill the required number of pupils allocated for the project.
He expressed worry over the situation during a five-day Training for 3,009 three School Based Management Committee (SBMC) executives from all the 20 LGAs in the state on their Roles, Responsibilities and Development of School Improvement Plan (SIP) in Bauchi.
The Project which earmarked 50 upper basic and 50 senior secondary schools to benefit from the intervention, has so far documented 7,000 out of the total of 20,250 pupils and students targeted beneficiaries.
Gar said even with over 20,000 admissions issued and continued sensitisation across media outfits and social media platforms, the project still has a target of 13,000 to cover.
The Project Coordinator identified poverty, poor infrastructure and proximity as some of the challenges hindering access among the targeted beneficiaries and charged the participants to redouble effort towards addressing the challenges in enrolment especially among the girl-child.
Also speaking, the Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Abubakar Suleiman said that the government alone cannot solve the problems of education.
Represented by the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Nasir Ala, the Speaker urged the trainees to be accountable and transparent in their assignment towards salvaging the future of the younger generation.
In his contribution, Alh. Adamu Duguri, the Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), expressed worry over the alarming rate of divorce, Gender-based Violence attitude of people towards girl-child education.
He charged the SBMC members on greater responsibility in monitoring, supervision, enrolment and guarding of educational facilities in their respective communities.
While declaring the training open, the State Commissioner for Education, Dr Jemila Dahiru, said AGILE is one of the few projects that recognises and empowers SBMCs to promote educational activities.
Represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Ali Babayo, the commissioner said this is one of the reasons why the participants pay attention towards the successful implementation of the set targets.
The 5-day training which drew three SBMC members from each of the 1,003 benefitting schools across the state, also has the twenty local government Education Secretaries among other stakeholders in attendance.
