Governor Aminu Tambuwal will convene a national stakeholders’ conference on girl-child education in early 2017, the Sokoto State Government has announced.
The conference, to be organised with the collaboration of UNICEF and the Sultan Foundation, will have presentations from experts from across the globe on how to address the issue of falling standard of education, especially female education in Sokoto in particular, and the nation as a whole.
President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to grace the event.
A statement issued Monday in Sokoto by Tambuwal’s spokesman, Imam Imam, said at the end of the two-day conference, practical guides will be outlined on how best to turn around the fortune of the education sector, and how best to address disparity issues of girl-child education.
“We appreciate the need to have all hands on deck as we proffer solution to challenges confronting the education sector in our state.
“This necessitated the need to organise a national conference on girl-child education to bring together experts from home and abroad, and development partners, to discuss and agree on the best approach to revamping the sector,” the statement added.
It said resolution from the conference will provide updated guideline for achieving set targets for female education in Nigeria.
It added that Sokoto State Government is giving female education the necessary attention it deserves.
“Few days ago, we announced the establishment of the agency for girl-child education which is expected to coordinate all issues related to female education from basic to tertiary levels in our state.
“We are working to ensure that officials of the new agency interface closely with local and international stakeholders to properly monitor progress of our girls in schools and what needs to be done to boost enrolment, retention and completion of all girls in schools in Sokoto State.”
Tambuwal announced the establishment of the agency for girl-child education during a meeting with officials from the Nigeria Office of UNICEF and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Sokoto last week.
Sokoto recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support primary education in the state.
