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At least 652 girls, who dropped out of schools in Adamawa mostly for cultural reasons, are returning to classes as schools reopen after the COVID-19 break.
African Centre for Leadership Strategy and Development (Centre LSD), an organisation which has been campaigning for girlchild education in the state, made this disclosure at a media interface in the state capital, Yola, saying its campaign, which is in its second year, is yielding fruits.
The Centre LSD, which is implementing its Community-Led Collective Action for Girlchild Education (C-CAGE) in one representative LGA in each of Adamawa’s three senatorial zones – Numan in the south, Song in the central and Maiha in northern Adamawa – said the gains were achieved in the focal LGAs namely Numan, Song and Maiha.
Executive Director of Centre LSD, Mr Sunday Osasah, explained following engagement with community, parents and education stakeholders, there was an upsurge in the enrolment of girls who dropped out previously due to poverty, cultural norms and other factors.
“Before the COVID-19 lockdown, 410 girls were reenrolled back to school in the three focal communities of Maiha, Song and Numan LGAs,” Osasah said, adding as schools reopen 242 drop-out-girls are returning to school based on his organisation’s campaign: 100 in Song, 62 in Maiha and 80 in Numan.
He expressed gratitude to the state government which he said had responded to infrastructural need which arose.
“We are happy to report that the government has not only provided structures but also has started teachers recruitment into schools across the state,” he said, specifying that the government renovated 20 schools and made 18 new constructions in each of the focal LGAs: Song, Maiha and Numan.
He however also spoke of persisting challenges, enjoining the state government to hasten its teacher recruitment exercise and to post adequate teachers to rural areas, preferably with incentives to encourage acceptance of such posting.
