The Bauchi State Ministry of Education has commenced a performance review of the life skills component of the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project to improve implementation quality and programme outcomes statewide.
The review was the focus of a quarterly community engagement meeting in Bauchi, bringing together education managers, school principals, School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) members, community leaders, and development partners to assess progress and challenges.
Speaking at the meeting, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Ali Babayo, said the engagement was designed as a feedback mechanism for identifying gaps, refining strategies, and aligning Bauchi State’s delivery of the AGILE life skills programme with national benchmarks.
Babayo explained that insights from stakeholders would guide policy adjustments and strengthen implementation across participating secondary schools, ensuring that adolescent girls benefit fully from the initiative.
Also addressing participants, the Executive Director of SISWACHI, Maryam Mohammed, disclosed that the programme is constrained by a shortage of trained Guidance and Counsellors (G&Cs) and community mentors in secondary schools statewide.
She noted that while the initial plan was to train 200 Guidance and Counsellors and 100 community mentors, the programme presently has 123 G&Cs and 100 mentors, leaving a shortfall of about 72 personnel.
Mohammed said the engagement with school principals and community leaders was aimed at identifying solutions to close the manpower gap and meet the target of deploying 300 facilitators across 100 secondary schools.
Despite the challenge, she described the AGILE life skills component, supported by the World Bank, as an opportunity for empowering adolescent girls, urging communities to take ownership and sustain gains beyond the project lifespan.
Participants agreed that consistent reviews and community involvement would improve girls’ enrolment, retention, and completion rates, while driving social change within host communities.
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