The Kwara State Government, in collaboration with the non-governmental organisation ABYEM Helping Aid Foundation, has finalised plans to empower 1,300 out-of-school girls across all 16 local government areas of the state.

This initiative targets girls aged between 15 and 25 years, including street hawkers and beggars who left school prematurely. The ABYEM Helping Aid Foundation affirmed its commitment to either reintegrating these young women into formal education or equipping them with vocational skills, ensuring they become productive members of society and secure brighter futures.

Speaking at a stakeholders' meeting in Ilorin, the state capital, on Thursday, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, expressed concern over the rising number of out-of-school children, particularly in certain regions of the country. He highlighted the importance of such partnerships in addressing this critical issue and promoting inclusive education.

According to him, “The rate of out-of-school children, specifically adolescent girls, is worrisome to the country.”

He added, “It is not doubtful that this case is more prevalent in the northern part of the country, which Kwara State is not totally exempted.

“The incident is detrimental to the society which requires the support of all stakeholders to salvage it.”

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mrs Rebecca Olanrewaju, at the occasion, the commissioner explained that the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment Project has factored the occurrence, stressing that a sub committee known as the “Second Chance” group has been designed to critically assess and amend the cases of out of school children.

“It is designed to make children who have missed conventional educational system to learn through non-formal educational centres,” he further noted, even as he maintained that “one of the wings of the second chance education is the vocational training. The role of the consultant is to identify the livelihood and marketable skills for the implementation of the out-of-school programme to give second chance education and empowerment to our adolescent girls and young women in the state. This will improve their economic prosperity and financial confidence for sustainability.”

Oluhungbebe, therefore, urged the consultant ABYEM Helping Aid Foundation “to work assiduously to give inspiring outcomes that will assist the implementation process.

“As a non-governmental organisation, it is not deniable that you're conversant with the activity. I am optimistic that your engagement is a result of your previous knowledge in the field.”

Also speaking at the meeting, the Chief Executive Officer of ABYEM Helping Aid Foundation, Prince Abiodun Otepola, disclosed that the Implementation of the NEEDS Assessment of out-of-school girls and young women in the state is a sub-component of the Kwara State Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project.

According to him, “The programme is about giving our girls that have dropped out of school a second chance.

“We are partnering with the state government and the World Bank to enable our girls between the ages of 15-25 years to go back to school or enrol them for skills or handwork for those that will not be able to go back to school.

“They want us to go and look for those that are affected if they will be able to go back to school and make them useful in society.”

He added that, “after this inception programme, we have a population of 1300 across the state, and we have identified 20 vocational centres across the 16 local governments in the state and in each local government, we are going to be meeting with 65 as sampling for each local government.

“We are going to populate the register for the state government through AGILE, which will help to empower them after training and vocational studies.”

For those who want to go back to school, Otepola said that “the government will pay them and pay their parents to encourage them to submit their children to go back to school. Another component is handling that.”

The Chairman of the Parents Teachers Association Kwara State chapter, Alhaji Ibrahim Oniye, in his remark, urged the stakeholders, including the various NGOs, human rights activists, among others who were present, to first find out the foundational cause of out-of-school of the children and solve the problems in order to put education of the country on strong and sound footing.

Oniye, who is the Makama of Ilorin, also called on the consultant and state government to focus their attention on the boys and young men who have also dropped out of school, stressing that their cases are also critical.

“We have young boys and young men walking about aimlessly on the streets. Some of them are touts. They are out of school, and as such, the stakeholders should also consider them in this programme. It would make our society safer and better,” he advised.