Sokoto state government has lauded the ongoing intervention of the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) in the provision of WASH facilities in over 240 Junior and Senior Secondary schools in Sokoto State.
The state government described the move as one major thing that will improve enrollment and retention of female students in schools in the state.
The Sokoto State Commissioner for Basic and Junior secondary school, Muhammad Tukur Alkali, stated this on Thursday in his remarks while declaring open a one say orientation meeting for the validation and approval of reviewed school improvement plan for 240 junior secondary and senior secondary schools across 23 local government areas in the state.
The Commissioner who was represented by Professor Mustapha Namaka, the Executive Secretary, female education board, said the intervention will encourage more girl child education in the state.
He explained that WASH facilities such as water, toilets especially for female students is currently lacking in Schools in the state
This meeting is to validate the work plan and after the meeting we will all swung into actions by forming into groups to visit the proposed schools and access the visibility
“Most of our schools lack water, toilets and other hygiene facilities, this meeting is to validate the work plan after which we will swung into action and form group to access the visibility of those structure that are needed in schools.
“This validation meeting will now bring a forum of engineers that are going to do the projects where they will meet with SBMC and other stakeholders to agree and arrive at certain consensus.
“The facilities we believe will encourage more students to return back to school in the state”
Also speaking in his remarks, the state co-ordinator of AGILE projects in the state, Dr Mansur Buhari, described the meeting as very important aiming to ensure all the Bill of quantity are inline.
He said all the issue related to the construction, renovation such has environmental, gender based issue has been taken care off.
“We are here to engage expert on gender based violence, which is why you can see every stakeholders including those living with disabilities so that in the bill of quantity, they can see that their issues has been taken care of as well”
He however call on all participants to ensure they participate fully in the programme so as to benefits students of the school across the state.
He said the project is starting with small and medium grant intervention grants which is targeted at about 240 schools in the state this year while the medium grant will in the work plan in the year 2025.
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