Balarabe Abdullahi Kiru
Kano State Government has unveiled plans to provide skills acquisition training to girls students in secondary schools.
This was disclosed by the state Commissioner of education Alhaji Umar Haruna Doguwa during the opening ceremony of 2-day first edition of Kano Education Summit 2024 held at Tahir Guests Palace.
Umar Doguwa said government had already commenced training of the female students on essential business skills that comprised leather works, soft making, computer training and cookery among others to promote girl child education, retention and completion in the state.
He disclosed that from the inception to date, the administration of Abba Kabir Yusuf had made giant stride towards empowering and retaining girls in school up to their completion period.
” In promoting Girls child education, this Ministry in collaboration with Ministry of Women Affairs organized a one day women sensitization programme on the significance of Girls Education as bedrock of ensuring socio-economic development ” he said.
Umar Haruna Doguwa maintained that the administration is coming out with measures of addressing the menace of out of schools in the state, stressing that government would soon commence sanctioning parents whose children are found roaming the streets during school hours.
He lamented that the policies of the previous administration on boarding schools closure had contributed to the higher number of dropped out especially among the female students,
The Commissioner maintained that out of the 72 boarding schools left during the second tanure of Dr. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, about 14 female boarding schools were closed down and some of the affected students of such schools became dropped out.
On revitalizing monitoring and evaluation of schools to ensure effective teachers performance, the Commissioner said the state had put up a robust monitoring and evaluation mechanism in place to track schools performance and teachers attendance.
” During the exercise, we established a data-driven approach to identify and create the ministry baseline and address some of the challenges facing the teaching professiion.
” This government has spent over N45 million naira for the first term logistics for the monitoring exercise and this was in synergy with parastatals under the ministry to ensure effective conduct of the exercise ” he said.
Concerning the reintroduction of Girl child shuttle buses by the administration, Doguwa announced that about 70 higher capacity buses were repaired and released to ease Girls transportation within the 8 metropolitan areas.
” The best thing that we can offer to our children is qualitative education and I am assuring you that this government is ready to provide conducive learning and teaching atmosphere for our students and teachers ” said Doguwa.
The Director of Adolescents and Helath Information Project, Hajiya Mairo Bello disclosed that the summit was aimed at engaging stakeholders to discuss issues that are undermining the progress of girls education and the way forward.
Speaking, the Chairman Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Dr Gwani Faruk Umar called on the state government to establish information technology secondary school in the state as education now a days is transformed in to digital technology.
In his presentation on “Exploring the Adolescent Girls Education in Kano” Professor Isma’il Zango said poverty and early marriage are some of the factors militating against retention and completion of girls education.
