Kano education summit seeks solutions to keep girls in school
By Hadiza Musa Yusuf
The Kano education summit, 2024 has pursued strategies to enhance the retention of girls in schools across the state.
Hajiya Mairo Bello, the convener of the program and founder of Adolescent Health and Information Projects (AHIP), emphasized the importance of education, calling it “the first foundation of everything.”
She revealed this while speaking on Tuesday during the two day Kano Education Summit 2024 at Tahir Guest Palace.
According to her, The summit, themed “Towards Strengthening Retention and Completion Rate of Girls’ Education,” aimed to address the challenges hindering girls’ education in Kano State.
“The main objective is to gather stakeholders including researchers, academia, policy makers, NGO advocates, parents, school managers and students to drive strategies for improved school retention and completion rates among girls in Kano state.
“Education is the first foundation of everything, thereby we our adolescent girls must retain and complete their education for Nigeria’s brighter future and economic prosperity,” she added.
The commissioner of education, Alhaji Umar Haruna Doguwa, also speaking at the summit said that the state is committed to improving girls’ education.
Doguwa who was representing governor Abba Kabir Yusuf added that the government has made a number of changes since assuming office last year.
He mentioned that the state had provided more instructional materials, reintroduced girl child shuttle buses, skills acquisition programs, teacher training programs, gender-sensitive training, among others.
“His excellency allocated a substantial portion of the state budget to education, prioritizing infrastructure, teacher welfare, and educational programs while implementing fiscal discipline measures to optimize resource utilization.”
He said that the government is committed to using these funds wisely to improve the quality of education in Kano State.
Alhaji Doguwa disclosed that the state government is devising plans to address the issue of children found loitering on the streets after 8:30 am.
He concluded by calling for collaboration with organizations to improve the educational system in the state.
Temitope Fashola, the representative of Christian Aid, said that education is the “greatest gift” that can be given to a child.
Speaking also at the event, Professor Ismail Mohammed Zango while presenting the paper “presentation of findings from research, exploring the adolescent girls’ education in Kano state” identified some reasons why girls drop out from school.
He listed lack of economic support, distance, cultural practices, early marriage among others factors.
According to him, the challenges of education retention are complex and cut
across economic, social and cultural factors.
He urged stakeholders to collaborate and empower communities, emphasizing that this approach would not only contribute to retaining girls in school but also ensure their successful completion of education.
The summit was held in collaboration with Christian Aid, the Kano Ministry of Education, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), partnership for learning for all in Nigeria (PLANE), Bayero University Kano, Civil Society Action Coalition on Education For All, and Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), featured multiple paper presentations and parallel sessions with stakeholders from different spheres of life.
