FOR the people of Kaisuwa Dole community in Gamawa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, the construction of a block of four classrooms by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Fahimta Women and Youth Development Initiative (FAWOYDI), with support from the TY Danjuma Foundation is not only an attempt to provide them with social infrastructure but also a bold step in giving them a hope of a better future.And for this particular reason, the people rolled out the drums recently during the inauguration of the classrooms to celebrate what to them seemed impossible as they had never had it so good. The community, tucked in the woods, had no standard infrastructure for learning before the intervention of the NGO with the construction of the school.Speaking during the inauguration of the project, the president of FAWOYDI, Hajiya Maryam Garba, stated that her organisation, which was established in 2003, had the goal of improving the reproductive health status of women of child-bearing age through health education and services, nutrition information and promotion of formal and non-formal education.She added that FAWOYDI's intervention in the community was aimed at complementing the state government's efforts in the fight against poverty in the society, adding that before its intervention in Kaisuwa Dole community in 2009, 'it was revealed that the community has no single standard infrastructure to enhance quality education in the community.'According to Hajiya Garba, who was represented by FAWOYDI's Manager, Administration and Finance, Hajiya Aishatu Awwal Usman, pupils in the school were learning on the bare floor in a zinc classroom constructed for them by Fahimta, which she noted had its attendant challenges, including low pupils' enrolment and attendance in school and high rate of school dropout. This, she said, prompted the NGO to intervene in the community's education sector.The journey towards the construction of the classrooms, Hajiya Garba informed, started on March 21, 2010, when her NGO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the TY Danjuma Foundation for grant assistant for the construction of the classrooms and another set at Fulataran community in Darazo Local Government Area of the state with the provision of VIP toilets and supply of school furniture, to the tune of N15 million.Fahimta's intervention at Kaisuwa Dole, according to Hajiya Garba, had began to yield fruit because 'before the intervention, this school has only 30 pupils with only one volunteer teacher, learning through the non-conventional way (the REFLECT learning process) but now theenrolment has increased to 129 pupils with 4 qualified teachers. These were made possible as a result of our partnership and good working relationship with Ministry of Education and SUBEB.'While appealing to the people to make good use of the project, the FAWOYDI president thanked the TY Danjuma Foundation for the grant given her organisation to embark upon the project and expressed the hope of sustaining the relationship with a view to extending the gesture to other parts of Bauchi State. She also acknowledged the support of the Bauchi State government, the State Primary Education Board (SUBEB), chairman, Gamawa Local Government Area, among others.In his remark on the occasion, a member of Bauchi State House of Assembly, representing Gamawa state constituency, Alhaji Bello Jadori, was full ofappreciation to FAWOYDI for its intervention in the community, noting that the organisation did what the government ordinarily supposed to have done for the people.Jadori declared that education was the bedrock of development in any society as no society could develop without giving education a pride of place, adding that, 'no community will achieve greatness without Western education.' And for this, he charged the Kaisuwa Dole community to jealously guard the school properly against any vandalisation, saying that the project belonged to them and they should take good care of it.He called on the youth of the community not only to embrace Western education and enroll in the school but also ensure punctuality in school and urged them to avoid anti-social vices, emphasising the importance of education now that the whole world had become a global village.Also speaking,the caretaker chairman, Gamawa LGA, Alhaji Umar Yakubu Udubo, was full of praises for FAWOYDI for its intervention in the educational sector of the local government, noting that it was a good omen for more development to come to the area.Alhaji Udubo stated that Gamawa LGA was committed to providing quality education for the people of the area, submitting that education was light and as such the council would do everything possible to ensure that the people were given quality education and thanked the Governor Isa Yuguda administration for its giant stride in reviving education in Bauchi State in general and Gamawa LGA in particular.He called on FAWOYDI to also intervene in other sectors in the local government area, promising that the council would promptly pay its counterpart funding. He then, advised parents to enroll their children in the school 'since you now have a school of your own, unlike before when you were complaining that you don't have any. Take good care of this; be vigilant in order not to allow any one to vandalise this school.
Click here to read full news..
