The Sokoto State Government has established an agency for girl-child education in a renewed effort to enhance access to education among females in the state.
Gov. Aminu Tambuwal announced this during a meeting with visiting officials of the Nigeria Office of UNICEF and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).
A statement by Tambuwal’s spokesman, Imam Imam, said that the agency would coordinate all issues related to female education from basic level to tertiary level.
”The agency will also interface with stakeholders to properly monitor progress of our girls in schools in terms of boosting enrolment, their retention and completion of schools in Sokoto state.
“Importantly, the agency, in collaboration with other agencies and departments, will supervise and implement targeted policies aimed at assisting female students to achieve their potentials,”Tambuwal was quoted as saying.
According to him, huge investment has been made to ensure a turnaround in the fortunes of education in Sokoto.
The governor appealed to development partners, including the DFID, to expand their areas of intervention in the state.
On the planned introduction of the school feeding programme, Tambuwal said consultations were still ongoing to ensure that it would be self-sustaining.
“We are currently studying the challenges faced by other states, notably Kano and Kaduna, when they introduced the school feeding in public schools.
”We are working with all our partners to introduce home-grown strategy in its implementation.
“As soon as it takes off, we plan to ensure it is sustained,” he added.
Earlier, DFID’s Education Adviser, Laura Brannelly, commended Tambuwal for declaring state of emergency in education, saying: “so far, there’s a coordinated effort to tackle challenges in the sector in Sokoto.”
She urged the governor to expedite action on the proposed National Summit on Female Education which Sokoto government was planning to organize early next year.
Source-NAN
