A Non-Governmental Organization, Women
Information Network
(WINET ) in collaboration with its foreign partner, Mundo Cooperante of Spain has , awarded scholarship to 60 indigent female Students of Community High School Umabor Eha – Alumona in Nsukka local government area of Enugu state .
Aside payment of their third term school fees running from (2022- 2023), the benefiting students were presented with assorted educational writing materials, such as packs of notebooks, Mathematical sets, school bags, among other items.
It would be recalled that the Enugu based NGO, which has passion for women and the girl child issues, had in the recent past carried out similar gesture in several schools in the state.
Executive Director of (WINET), Miriam Menkiti, in her speech, told the students that they were in the school with the permission of the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Uchenna Eze .
She said, “In furtherance of our activities under the Right to be a Girl –Projects to End Girl Child Marriage, we are here today to present third term scholarship (2022-2023) to sixty (60) female students of Community High School Umabor Eha –Alumona.
“The project is titled “Support for 128 Students Education in Enugu State, Nigeria” funded by Mundo Cooperante of Spain”.
She disclosed that one academic year scholarship was initially awarded to 106 female Students to Community Secondary School Akpasha and 22 female students of Commumity Secondary School, Iva Valley.
According to Menkiti, who spoke through the group’s Monitoring, Evaluation and learning officer, Mrs Chinelo Dim, the group will realized extra income after the implementation of the project which will be utilize it to
pay third–term school fees for an additional 120 female students.
Others, she said that would benefit from the implementation of project include 60 students in Community High school, Umuabor, Eha-Alumona, Nsukka Local government Area, and another 60 in Girls Secondary school, Oduma in toAninri Local Government Area.
“As a member of the international coalition of organizations we are here to support the retention of girls in school for their education. We want our girls to be educated; We do not want them to be given out in marriage at a tender.
“This is the reason we insisted that Parents of the selected female students must sign commitment letters that they will not be withdrawn from school for marriage or any purpose during the period of our scholarship.
We urge parents not to discriminate against the girl: child.They should send all girl children to school like the boys,” She said.
While thanking Mundo Cooperante for supporting the project to retain young girls in school, Menkitifurther appealed to the benefitting female students to make the best use of the opportunity study hard.
In a remark, principal of the school, Mr Ugwuoke Martin, expressed appreciation to WINET and it’s foreign partner for the kind gesture, stressing that the role the NGO had been playing in the defence of Women and girl child was worthy of commendation.
He said the gesture would no doubt serve as encouragement and motivating factor to the benefitting students, whom he admonished to take their studies very seriously as it was the only way they could reciprocate the intervention.
“On behalf of the school management, I want to say a very big thank you to these two organizations for remembering our school.
Responding, on behalf e students, Ezeguorie Abigail of Junior Secondary school JSI, lauded WINET and Mundo Coooperante for coming to their financial assistance.
She assured them of their readiness to reciprocate the gesture through taking their studies very seriously, stressing that they would not take the support for granted