A group, Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, AGILE, said it will empower adolescent girls in Ekiti State on entrepreneurship skills and other relevant components.
According to the Project Coordinator, Mrs Oluwayemisi Alokan, the project is aimed at using secondary schools in the state to sensitise the adolescent girls through life skills training programmes.
Alokan stated this on Monday, in Ado-Ekiti, at a programme tagged “Training of Trainers for the Facilitation of Safe Spaces in Secondary School in Ekiti State.”
She said the training will empower the trainers on safe curriculum activities for adolescents on how to take care of their health issues, climate change and other related health awareness.
Her words: “This project which comprises of three components, we use secondary school as a platform to empower girls from entrepreneurship skills and other relevant components. We are going to sensitise the adolescent girls in Ekiti.
“We are here to talk on life skills. The life skills training programme covers four main modules which are life skills which involves conflict resolutions, self determination and some other areas of health issues.
“Also, we have Gender Based Violence and sexual exploitations and assault and planning change matters. On the implementation of the above activities, a two-step approach is going to be used on this programme.
“It will serve as training on trainers on safe curriculum activities and also to cascade training on safe space for guidance and counsellors. We are going to sensitise all our adolescent girls in our senior secondary schools.
“Life skills programme taking care of adolescence on how to take care of health issues, climate change and other related health awareness on the programme for the adolescence for the schools.
“This programme is to have safe space in the school. That environment is safe enough to explain to their colleagues, teachers how they felt to anything related to their well-being in the society and community.”
Declaring the workshop open, Special Adviser, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Olabimpe Aderiye implored the trainers to utilise the opportunity to make imapct noting that adolescent boys should be considered in their programme.
She said: “It’s about adolescent girls. Like when you read the part, you know that it’s inclusive. It has to do with the boys. There is no how you can empower girls, you can train them and provide for them and you leave the boys. Whether you do it consciously or unconsciously. I was glad when I was reading the pact, you have to take care of the boys as well.
“I want to implore you to pay attention. Don’t look at the age of the facilitators. We will learn from one another because in the course of the interaction with them, there are some inputs that you will make that will add to their own knowledge as well.”
Team Lead for New Initiative for Social Development, NISD, Engineer Steve Tsado said: “We are to provide technical support for facilitation of safe spaces in secondary schools in Ekiti State. This activity is under the adolescence girls initiative for learning and empowerment under the Ministry of Education.
“We are going to equip the trainers with safe space curriculum which have been developed and reviewed by AGILE and the State Ministry of Education. We are hoping that the at the end of this training, the trainers would have gathered requisite skills to carry out cascade training at different locations in four decentralized locations in Ekiti State.”
