By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
Bauchi State Government has reiterated its commitment to continually provide an enabling environment for the girl child to achieve her potentials through education across the communities in the state no matter how difficult the terrain may be.
The assertion was made by the State Commissioner of Education, Dr Jamila Mohammed Dahiru during a Bi-Annual Media-Round Table Meeting, organised by Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education held in Bauchi on Saturday.
The Commissioner therefore called on the media practitioners in the state to support Government’s commitment towards revamping the Girlchild education system across the state.
Jamila Dahiru who also is the Chairperson of the Project, was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Alhaji Aliyu Gamawa, pledging to ensure effective teaching and learning across the public schools in the state to produce an egalitarian society.
Also speaking while giving an overview of the Project, Project Coordinator of AGILE, Alhaji Ali Sule Gar, explained that the project components in the state have adopted a comprehensive approach towards achieving significant milestones in improving the girls’ education.
He also explained that the AGILE programme has already identified some public schools to ensure effective transmission of adolescent girls initiative for learning project to the people at the grassroots.
Also speaking, the AGILE’s Communication Officer in the state, Halima Ibrahim Dimis, said that the objective of the meeting was to harvest the ideas of promoting adolescent girl child education in the state.
Halima Ibrahim Dimis described girl child education as a catalyst to national development and explained that AGILE in the state has deemed it necessary to engage the services of members of the pen profession as partners in progress, to achieve its goals.
Speaking on the role of media in promoting adolescent girl child education, the Head of Corporate Affairs Unit of the Bauchi Radio Corporation, Alhaji Umar Shira, described the AGILE project as a welcome development in addressing the challenges encountered in the girl education system.
He enjoined media professionals as stakeholders to avoid sensational, blackmail, bias and selective reportage, and ensure fair editorial judgement in their outlet services by covering the salient critical issues concerning the AGILE activities to the people.
Umar Shira, stressed the social role of the media in amplifying the services of the initiative for learning and empowerment for the development of girl child.
The participants are Managers of both Federal, State and, Private media Organisations in the State as well as other practicing Journalists cutting across Radio, Television, Print, Online and New Media.
The Media Executives and practicing Journalists identified poverty as one of the leading causes of poor Secondary School enrollment of Adolescent Girls in the State just as they also unanimously agreed that the decay in schools infrastructure has contributed to making enrolment drive of adolescent girls into schools unattractive.
