Keeping Girls in School says it is concerned with the increased number of girls who have dropped out of school in Itezhi-tezhi district under its sponsorship.
Itezhi-Tezhi District Education Board Secretary Victor Longwani indicated that the project had improved the performance of girls that have been re-admitted into school.
KGS National Coordinator Willy Kaputa discloses that from its inception in 2017 only 498 girls out of 721 enrolled , have remained under KGS sponsorship in the district.
Speaking when he inspected the programme in Itezhi-Tezhi , Mr. Kaputa states that government is committed to transform the livelihood of women especially in rural areas with productivity grands and secondary school bursaries.
The KGS initiative is aimed at improving literacy levels across the country.
“The government through the ministry of General Education desires that we have women who are educated and if we kept our girls longer in school then we are helping them to escape the trap of many vices such as child marriages, leading to a healthy society with informed women,” Mr. Laputa explained.
Mr. Kaputa stressed the need to device measures that will improve the effectiveness of the project by meeting the needs of the beneficiaries that might be causing the increased dropouts.
The KGS team embarked on stake holder engagement with implementers which includes teachers, parents, district education offices as well the pupils in order to come up with workable solutions that will improve commitment among learners.
Meanwhile, Itezhi-Tezhi District Education Board Secretary Victor Longwani indicated that the project had improved the performance of girls that have been re-admitted into school.
Mr. Longwani revealed that about five girls who wrote their grade 12 last year had performed very well and have since been recommended for higher education.
He noted that KGS sponsorship has motivated the beneficiaries to come to school and are performing better than expected.
“The programme has directly and indirectly reinforced the implementation of re-entry policy because a number of girls who had become pregnant have been re-enrolled,” Mr. Longwani stated.
The KGS funding has further assisted schools with infrastructure development, therby creating more space for improved enrollment rates among girls in rural areas, he said.
And one of the beneficiaries, Hellen Mingochi, explained that the project has lessened the financial hardships that her family faced to pay for her tuition fees.
She noted that her dreams of becoming a lawyer will be achieved.
“Am very grateful to government for the sponsorship. My dreams of being achieving great things in life have just been realized and will come to fruition,” a jovial Mingochi noted.
Ministry of General Education (MOGE) has supported 28,799 vulnerable secondary school going girls across the country with school bursaries under the Keeping Girls in School (KGS) Project since the inception of the project in 2016.
As usual the girls are blamed for the development. How about blaming the boys for not behaving and getting the girls pregnant in the first place?