Yobe state has been facing the challenge of girls’ under-enrolment in schools due to poverty and many factors. In this interview with YUSUF YUSUF, the project coordinator of AGILE in the state, Abdullahi Bulah, said the programme is set to change the face of education in the state.
What is AGILE and what does it intends to achieve?
AGILE is Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, a project by Yobe state government but with support from World Bank because the state government collected a loan to implement a five-year project. The objective is to provide more opportunities for girls to complete secondary school education. This includes increasing their enrolment, retention and completion; so, it is a project that supports girl-child because they are disadvantaged. There are many factors that deter them from completing their secondary school education, so the project is to fill those gaps under the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.
Tell us about the components of the project and how long it would last.
It is a five-year project with three major components. The first is bringing safe learning space where we are building new secondary schools and rehabilitating existing ones. We are building 50 new schools for girls and renovating 225 secondary schools. Of these, about 150 are Junior Secondary Schools while 75 are Senior Secondary Schools. We are going into their rehabilitation by giving grants to the School Based Management Committee (SBMC) for them to implement.
Under Component 2, we create enabling environment for girls learning. We have Component 2.1 which is behavioural change communication to change the mindset of the parents about the education of the girl-child so that they also can give it a priority. In some cases, it is not only economic factors that hinder them from completing their education but also the perception and behavioural change. Some parents have the means to take their girls to school but don’t value it.
So, Component 2.1 is about communication and under it, we do some sensitisation and behavioural change communication. Component 2.2 is about life skills, teaching the girls some of their personal hygiene and personal development as well as giving them some vocational skills in their schools so that they can finish their schools with qualitative education that they can be on their own. We have component 2.2b which is about digital skills. We are building digital laboratories and providing computers so that information technology would be taught to the girls. This is also for them to complete their secondary education with digital literacy.
We have component 2.2C, which is second chance. That is giving them another chance for those who might have withdrawn or dropped out of school for one reason or the other. Then we have Component 2.3 which is Conditional Cash Transfer under which we are supporting girls who are finishing primary schools going to JSS1 and those who are finishing JSS III going to SS1 because that is a transition period that requires some funding or financing because of change of uniforms, change of books.
Under it, everything is new so we are giving them support at that point. We have component 3 which is about system strengthening, monitoring and evaluation. We are building the capacity of education administrators and those concerned with the administration of education of our girls. The 3.2 and 3.1 components are system strengthening and 3.2 is monitoring and evaluation. In this part, every project is being implemented as M & E components.
You undertook advocacy visits to the 14 Emirate Councils in Yobe. What were the responses?
Traditionally, the Emirate Councils have been responsible for encouraging children to go to school because they are the leaders of the communities. They have been the champion of advocacy for going to school even during the colonial days. We went round to inform them of the existence of AGILE, what it entails and what it stands to achieve over five years. We got them to buy into it and they happily applauded the government for the laudable initiative. They also gave their backings especially enrolment of children. They have now stepped down all this enlightenment to their subjects especially the traditional lineages, links and leaderships. That has really yielded very positive results as most people are aware of AGILE in the state as a result of involvement of those traditional institutions.
Yobe has a large number of out-of-school children, especially girls; what are you doing to reduce that number?
Yeah, if you look at the components, there are some incentives involved in AGILE especially when you talk of vocational skills that are being taught and even digital skills and financial incentives given to girls for going to schools. These are motivations that make most girls to love school and not only the girls but also motivate their parents. You need to see how parents were struggling to see that their girls are registered so that they can benefit from some of the financial benefits and some of the vocational skills.
Tell us more about the 50 schools you intend to build across the state.
As I said earlier, we are building 50 new schools and rehabilitating 225 existing ones in order to fill the gaps because where some Junior Secondary Schools are available, you find out that after finishing their Junior Secondary Schools, most of the girls drop out because their parents cannot cater for their needs. In boarding schools, sometimes because of security situation and kidnapping of girls, some parents are skeptical about taking their daughters to boarding schools. So, if you could provide Senior Day Secondary Schools in most of the locations, the school enrolment in those areas would increase significantly. That is why we are building 50 new schools and rehabilitating 225 of the existing ones.
Are there likely success stories in the few months of AGILE?
Our major success story is that we have gotten the buy-in of the stakeholders especially traditional institutions, the community leaders and we are able to change the negative perception of Yobe citizens about AGILE. Many people are coming to understand that AGILE is not as negative as it was presumed earlier but a project to boost qualitative education for girls. We are able to train school administrators and give them the capacity to improve education management. We are also able to train members of the School Base Management Committees (SBMC) across the 225 schools to be renovated and are able to develop their school development plans. They were able to identify what their problems were.
We have a copy of all the schools improvement plans and have shared it with the World Bank to get their go ahead, once they approve it, we would give the schools the grants. As of now, we are able to conduct the environmental and social management plans, which is a condition for construction and rehabilitation and this is the issue of knowing the impact of environment on the project. Soon, we are expecting the Federal Ministry of Environment to review report and then at the end, give us a certificate to start construction of the new schools.
Every project comes with its challenges. So far, what are your challenges?
Well, each project comes with it’s challenges. Our challenges first was the misconception people had about us because when it comes to girls, people are asking why girls and not boys. These girls have some disadvantages over the boys and that is why the government is helping to see that these gaps are filled. People initially misunderstood AGILE thinking it corrupt the morals of the girls. Through our persistent sensitisation and advocacy, people are able to understand that the negative perceptions are all gone.
What are your expectations in the near future?
Our expectation is to see that our girls have qualitative education and parents should also value education of our girls. We are not discriminating but we are supporting or filling the gaps of the girls because that is why it is wider but for the boys in this area, most of them are going to school, for the girls we have that challenge.
We are also trying to see that the parents see the value in sending their children to school irrespective of gender. We are also trying to see how the policy makers would give priority to education especially during budget preparation so that education would receive the highest allocation and implementation.