A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Malala Fund, is set to sponsor an initiative implemented by Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative (AREAi) to train students and teachers in Oyo digital learning access,
During the launch of the Initiative in Ibadan, the Chief Executive Director, AREAi, Gideon Olanrewaju, said Governor Seyi Makinde’s commitment of 18.37 percent of the 2022 budget to education demonstrates his commitment to transforming education across all educational levels.
He stated that the objective of ‘Getting Girls Equal’ is to complement the efforts of the state and its leadership to drive a gender-responsive plan that would ensure equitable educational provision for boys and girls
Olanrewaju said: “Over the next three years, working with the state Ministry of Education, school administrators, community leaders and other key stakeholders across 30 schools in Oyo, Ibadan and Ogbomoso, our efforts will be geared towards enabling 30,000 girls, including boys, ensuring no cultural, societal or traditional barrier will interfere with their educational aspirations and they are better supported in learning by their families or within their communities.”
He expressed confidence that upon the completion of the initiative, the collaboration with all stakeholders, including government officials, traditional leaders, religious leaders and other community stakeholders, would culminate in increased allocation and effective mobilisation of resources for improved school infrastructure support.
Olanrewaju asserted there would be improved awareness on the role of families and communities in encouraging girls to pursue quality education, delivery of series of gender-responsive practices within the educational sector planning and administration in Oyo state and the realisation of an Oyo State where girls exercise their rights to learn continuously without any form of barrier.
The Senior Programmes Manager, AREAi, Simon Anthony, said the NGO, in the last seven years, had worked with under-resourced schools and marginalised communities, providing technical and infrastructural support to scale learning outcomes and drive tangible academic achievement for poor and vulnerable children, particularly girls and youths from low-income families.
“Building on these past accomplishments, our Getting Girls Equal Initiative will be working with 300 teachers, providing tailored training to them for improved knowledge, attitude and practice of teachers towards delivering gender responsive classroom instruction and use of data for classroom decision making.
“We will also work with 30,000 female students across 30 schools, providing them with active and tailored academic and career mentorship opportunities to complete at least secondary education. Our work will include developing and deploying an electronic monitoring application to train our female students and their teachers to increase their performance and address any barrier affecting their school attendance rates,” she revealed.
Anthony said over 60 teachers would be supported with mobile devices to enhance their classroom practice, while the state and local governments would be engaged for a renewed commitment to gender-responsive policies through key dialogues and workshops.
The “Getting Girls Equal Initiative,“ 30,000 girls, including boys, from 30 schools would enjoy digital learning access and teacher would be supported with mobile devices for their classroom practice.
The initiative, which would last for a period of three years in Ibadan and Ogbomoso areas of the State, is an integrated school-to-community intervention, aimed at increasing attendance rates of female students through resource mobilisation and policy advocacy
The Initiative would be implemented with the engagement of members of the Oyo State Youth Parliament.
PIAK
