The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) has launched a transformative new programme aimed at expanding educational access for disadvantaged girls and young women in Kogi State.
The initiative, known as the Second Chance Education Programme, is designed to provide out of school girls with academic opportunities, vocational training, and essential life skills across all parts of the state.
At a stakeholder engagement and sensitisation forum held in Kabba, themed “Second Chance Education: Restoring Hope, Rekindling Dreams, Empowering Girls and Women”, the programme was formally unveiled to community leaders, educators, parents, and government officials.
Speaking at the event, the Kogi State Project Coordinator of AGILE, Ahmed Tijjani Oricha, who was represented by his deputy, Aminat Suleiman, explained that the programme is intended to raise awareness about the need to reintegrate adolescent girls into the educational system.
“She said many girls who dropped out of school due to poverty, early marriage or family responsibilities now have the opportunity to either re enrol in school or benefit from vocational training that would make them self reliant,” the coordinator stated.
Suleiman also encouraged young girls to stay resilient and hopeful, noting that the programme offers both academic and non academic learning pathways tailored to individual needs.
Also speaking at the event, the programme’s Component Lead, Hajia Maryam Bello, emphasised the broader social impact of the initiative, describing it as a movement to restore dignity and opportunity to girls whose education had been disrupted.
“She urged community leaders, parents and stakeholders to play active roles in supporting and protecting the rights of girls, stressing that ‘when you educate a girl, you transform a family and when you transform families, you transform communities.”
The Second Chance Education Programme is part of AGILE’s broader mission to close the gender gap in education and promote empowerment through inclusive, community based interventions.
