Poverty, Teenage Pregnancy and early marriage have been identified as factors limiting girl child education in Ekiti State.
These were revealed during a workshop on “Agenda for Research Validation Meeting” among MDAs in Ekiti state to probe into the factors that limit girl child education .
The programme organised by the Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), in collaboration with Balm in Gilead Foundation for Sustainable Development (BIGIF) also linked the Girl Child’s attitude and her quest to get rich quick among others to menace .
Stakeholders from the Ministries of Education, Information, Women Affairs, Ekiti SUBEB participated.
In her remarks, the AGILE Coordinator in Ekiti State, Yewande Adesua, explained that the Programme was an intervention supported by the World Bank and the Ekiti State Government.
The Coordinator noted that the Initiative partnered with BIGIF as a Consultant, and visited 34 Schools out of the 203 Schools in Ekiti State to access the reasons girl child is deprived of education.
According to her ,there is still prevalence of teenage pregnancy in Ekiti ,inspite of the fact that the state is the second state in Nigeria with the lowest numbers of Girls out of School.
Stakeholders therefore called for increased budgeting to enhance education financing for the Girl Child.
The Initiatives also solicit for establishment of more Model colleges and upgrading of existing School facilities in the State.
While also calling on the state government to create alternative and flexible learning options, they advocated for the implementation of Ekiti WASH Policy 2021 and improved Menstrual Hygiene Management in Schools.
“The basic objective of the event today was to discuss the outcome of the research conducted by BIGIF on factors that limit girl child education in Ekiti State.
“The consultant had gone to the field, looking at 34 schools out of the 230 Schools in Ekiti State to receive information and data on why they dropped out girls or teenage pregnancy that keeps Girls out of school in Ekiti State.
“Some of these issues are already being addressed by government and references are made like the establishment of more model schools, Renovations Of schools which is currently going on, Remote learning platform is also ongoing to make issues of mentality, among others.
“We are looking for a way of changing the narrative of teenage pregnancy.”
Adesua added that the AGILE is als working tirelessly to embark on another project called ‘Second Chance Education’ for vulnerable Girls.
“We anticipate another project which is Second Chance Education for Girls who have been violated, gone into early marriages, pregnant or asked to drop.
“We are looking for a way of bringing them in to enable to complete their secondary education.
“We have also empowered them with skills that can see them through life so that they will be able to take care of themselves and the children they have had.” She said