BY NAJIB SANI, GOMBE
The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project in Gombe State has unveiled plan to provide computer laboratories in the over 150 senior secondary schools in the state.
Dr Amina Haruna Abdul, the state AGILE Project Coordinator, disclosed the plan in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, where she explained that the provision of the computer laboratories is aimed at promoting digital literacy for the girls and boys in schools.
According to her, AGILE is a project of the state government supported by the World Bank to improve secondary education opportunities for girls between the ages of 10 and 20.
“AGILE will provide standard computer laboratories with internet facilities and solar power for uninterrupted power supply during learning in all the over 150 senior secondary schools in the state.
“New junior and senior secondary schools will be constructed in communities with primary schools having a significant number of girls, ensuring secondary education is accessible within their communities.”, she revealed.
Amina lamented the increasing number of girls engaging in farm labour, known as “barema,” in the state, leaving home in the morning and returning in the night for a meager sum of money as reward.
“When you come to north east, Gombe is the first on the list of children roaming the streets. We call them out of schools girls. If you consider Gombe in five to six years back, you don’t see this situation at all. So you begin to wonder what is happening? We are having more and more girls on the streets.”, she decried.
The AGILE coordinator added that they would offer a second chance education, providing training, materials, and registration for out-of-school girls to acquire skills and education, encouraging them to quit farm labour.
She promised that scholarships would be awarded to the poorest girls, utilising YESSO’s poverty rankings to enroll out-of-school girls in the state.
This is just as she lauded the state governor Inuwa Yahya for the establishment of mega schools for girls, such as the upgraded Doma Girls School saying it was a significant step.
