Kwara govt launches gender policy to promote equal access to education

Kwara State Government has launched its Policy on Gender in Education under the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project to promote equal educational opportunities for all learners, irrespective of gender.

Speaking at the launch in Ilorin on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Dr Lawal Olohungbebe, said the policy reflected the government’s collective responsibility to create an educational environment where every child could enrol, participate, learn and reach their full potential.

Olohungbebe, who was represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs Banke Olanrewaju, disclosed that the state government had paid its N150 million counterpart funding to support the project.

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He said the policy and its implementation guidelines would provide direction for addressing gender-related barriers to education and strengthening systems and practices needed to ensure inclusive, safe and supportive learning environments across the state.

The commissioner stressed that the success of the policy would depend not only on its official launch but also on the collective commitment of stakeholders to its effective implementation.

He urged relevant stakeholders to take ownership of the policy and work together to translate its provisions into practical actions and measurable results.

“As we officially unveil this Document, let us renew our commitment to ensuring that gender does not become a barrier to access, participation, retention, or achievement in education,” he said.

Also speaking, the Deputy Project Coordinator of Kwara AGILE and System Strengthening Sub-component Lead, Lawal Hamza Adisa, said the project was introduced to address challenges including unwanted pregnancies, early marriages and high school dropout rates among adolescent girls in the state.

He said the enrolment rate among girls aged between 10 and 20 had previously been low, while the fertility rate among adolescent girls was above 70 per cent.

Adisa, however, noted that enrolment had been increasing with the intervention of AGILE.

He said the state needed sustainable measures to maintain the gains recorded under the programme after its completion and prevent the challenges it was designed to address from recurring.

According to him, the state had domesticated the national policy on gender in education to establish a framework for sustaining the achievements of the AGILE project and ensuring that girls completed secondary education without leaving boys behind.

The Kwara AGILE Project Coordinator, Adeshina Salami, said the policy was designed to strengthen girls’ education and ensure that female students completed their schooling.

He added that the policy would apply to both public and private schools across the state.

Salami disclosed that about 32,000 adolescent girls in Kwara received N40,000 each as conditional cash transfers under the programme, while more than 1,400 beneficiaries had received digital skills training.

The launch was attended by representatives of the Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), the Association of Model Islamic Schools (AMIS), ANCOPSS, AOPSHON, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), students and other stakeholders.