By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
Media Executives and practicing journalists in Bauchi State have identified poverty as one of the leading causes of poor secondary school enrollment of Adolescent Girls in the State.
The Media practitioners also unanimously agreed that the decay in schools infrastructure has contributed to making enrolment drive of adolescent girls into schools unattractive.
These, and other factors, responsible for the poor indices in adolescent girls education in Bauchi State, were part of the outcomes of the maiden edition of the Bi-Annual Media Roundtable Meeting, put together by the Bauchi State Ministry of Education, under the World Bank Assisted Project tagged “Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment” (AGILE).
The Media Roundtable Meeting which was held at the conference hall of Sulgad Hotel Bauchi on Saturday 26th October, 2024, attracted over 30 media practitioners.
At a breakout session during the meeting, other underlying challenges militating the enrollment of Adolescent Girls into school, identified by the media practitioners that came to fore include: inadequate WASH facilities in schools, insecured school environment, early marriage, weak community engagement etc.
The participants then urged the State AGILE Project Implementation Unit to leverage on the media, using their various channels, for continuous awareness creation and advocacies, through reportages, to address some of challenges identified as proffered solutions.
Earlier in a welcome remarks, Bauchi State Commissioner of Education Dr. Jamila Muhammad Dahiru, disclosed that Adolescent Girls in Bauchi State are faced with some challenges which exclude them from education or preventing them from completing secondary education.
Dr. Dahiru, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Ali Babayo, said that the roundtable media engagement was another effort by the Bauchi State Government in carrying the media along, as key partners, in changing the indices of adolescent education in the State.
The Permanent Secretary said that the State Government is doing all it takes to change the face of education for the better, emphasising that, the State, keying into the AGILE Project is a pointer to that resolve.
Giving an overview of the AGILE Intervention, the State Coordinator of the Project, Ali Sule Gar said that the Project objective is to improve secondary education opportunities among girls in Bauchi State.
He disclosed that the AGILE Project intends to use a comprehensive approach to address critical constraints that Adolescent Girls face, which limit their ability to complete secondary school.
Gar said the Project will seek to achieve the objectives through the use of the school, family and community structures to empower adolescent girls.
The Coordinator said that the strategy approach of the AGILE Project will consist of interventions aimed at keeping girls in school and also provide opportunities for them to acquire critical skills, which will in turn empower them to enroll, stay, complete and possibly transit to tertiary level of education.
While interacting with the participants, who all described the roundtable meeting as innovative and engaging, Communication officer of the Project, Halima Dimis assured them that, all inputs collated from the breakout session and, other contributions made, will be carefully filtered to see those that Align with the Project’s objectives and incorporate it in the implementation strategy.
Dimis expressed her profound gratitude to the participants for the enthusiasm demonstrated during the meeting, describing the gesture as heartwarming and encouraging. She said the State Project Implementation Unit of the AGILE Project will not take that demonstration of commitment for granted.
Participants at the meeting include: CEOs of both Federal, State and, Private media Organisations and Practicing Journalists that cut across Radio, Television, Print, Online and New Media.