The African Center for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) will intensity advocacy for the return of 2000 out-of-school girls to class in Adamawa State.
The Acting Executive Director of the center, Mr. Monday Osasah, who stated this on Tuesday in Abuja at a public presentation of a Baseline Report on its project in Adamawa State, said the project will be carried out under its Community Led Collective Action for Girls Education (C-CAGE) project in partnership with Malala Fund.
The Gulmakai Champion for Malala Fund, Ms. Frances Igwilo, had earlier said “the public presentation of the baseline report was also to further the advocacy of the concerns of out of school children, particularly the girl-child, and update citizens on the tortuous journey towards addressing the challenge in the state, focusing on Numan, Song and Maiha local government areas.”
Igwilo urged the National Assembly to amend the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act and improve girls enrolment and retention through senior secondary school.
Presenting the report, Osasah said the C-CAGE is a three-year project conceptualised by the Centre LSD to address the root causes of barriers to girl-child education with the goal of increasing the rate of girls’ enrolment and retention in public primary and secondary schools in the three LGAs.
“The project, which has the funding support of Malala Fund, will challenge systems and structures that have tended to exacerbate the preponderance of out-of-school children especially that of the girl child,” he said.
Listing the results of the research of the three councils, Osasah said the total population of persons of school age was 1,736,546; total school enrolment of pupils/students (primary and secondary) 849,912 and total out-of-school children/youth, 886,634.
Others are, total population of females (aged 5-19) 843,024; total school enrolment of females (primary and secondary) 383,380 and total out-of-school girls 459,644.
The report also listed barriers to girl- child education to include poverty, unemployment, perceived high cost of secondary education, especially for registration or enrolment for external examinations and engaging girls for hawking or trading during school hours, among others.
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