The Borno State Government has taken delivery of 1,500 Menstrual Hygiene Management (Dignity) kits to address the educational barriers for girl-child due to the current economic hardship which has affected many families in the country.
Lawan Wakilbe, commissioner for Education, Science, Innovations and Technology, stated this while receiving the delegation of Save the Children led by Daniel Rotgakka; Education Project coordinator (Education Cannot Wait) in Maiduguri.
He underscored that it has achieved a significant milestone in its fight against out-of-school children, but lamented that lack of adequate provisions of dignity kits to girl-child has been major challenge facing the programme.
He explained that his focus this school session would be retention which means how to keep the girl-child in school, urging the partner to support the programme.
“I had cried to our first lady of the state to advocate for the dignity of kids because what I saw as a father, and as an education administrator was frightening, due to the high level of poverty.
“Adolescent girls who are very sensitive must be taken care of because they cannot afford basic things to clean up. And that is a dangerous situation we find ourselves in,” Wakilbe lamented.
Chachu Tadicha, deputy director of Programme Operations SCI, maintained that with funding from ‘Education Cannot Wait’, SCI is implementing a 3-year Multi-Year Resilience Project in Borno State with an overall objective to increase access to quality and inclusive basic education, for crisis-affected girls and boys in a safe learning environment in North-East Nigeria.
He reiterated that their vision was to ensure every child attains the right to survival, protection, development and participation.
“We work with MDAs, CSOs, and tertiary institutions in the project locations to deliver these objectives by increasing enrolment, attendance, and retention of crisis-affected girls and boys in gender-responsive and safe schools, particularly for girl-child education.
“We are writing to express our commitment to support the education sector in Borno by donating 1,500 kitted/packaged dignity kits to the Ministry to support adolescent learners who may face difficulties in accessing these essential items resulting in school absenteeism and poor menstrual hygiene management practices.
“As an advocate of quality and holistic education, we believe that every individual deserves access to learning opportunities that can shape their future,” he said.
