Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Sightsavers has advocated for providing adolescent girls with additional skills to enhance their livelihoods.
The Senior Program Manager for Eye Health at the NGO, Dr. Selben Penzin, stated this during a graduation ceremony for some adolescent girls at the Industrial Training Fund office in Kaduna.
Dr Selben Penzin stressed the need for the adolescent girls to have additional skills considering the present economic reality in the country.
‘We have discovered that there are adolescent girls in our schools who are making great efforts to acquire education with the support of their parents and guidance, but they need a little help to further improve themselves”, she explained.
According to her, Sightsavers in collaboration with Kaduna State Ministry of Health and State Universal Basic Education decided to train adolescent girls with disabilities for inclusive education.
‘We acquired some funding and decided to collaborate with SUBEB and ITF by inviting fifteen girls with disabilities from within the state to train them for four months and empower them with starter packs in areas such as sewing, baking, cooking, knitting, among others.‘ she noted.
The senior program manager therefore encouraged the parents and guardians to ensure that what the girls learn is sustained for their self-reliance.
Earlier, the Assistant Director, Industrial Training Fund -ITF Kaduna ,Mr Daniel Jangbadi who called on the participants to utilize judiciously the training and the starter packs received, stressed that ITF would always promote, provide and encourage skills acquisition in the country.
Also in her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, Dr. Aisha Abubakar, expressed the state government’s commitment to providing relevant policies that would improve the livelihoods of the citizens.
She called on the participants not to sell their starter packs but use them for the betterment of their lives.
Cov/Teddy Daniel
