Vice President Yemi Osinbajo Thursday inaugurated inaugurated the Management Board of Adawiyya Girls Academy, Minannata community, Sokoto state.
Acknowledging the brainchild of the academy, Hajia Rabiatu Adawiyya, from whose name the school is endowed, Osinbajo said societies advance when females are educated.
He said the education of young girls should be a top priority, stressing that children must also be taught the highest standards of honesty, piety and hard work to build a healthier, happier and prosperous society.
He said that despite the fact that the founder of the academy did not undergo formal education, she “understood a reality that even the best minds are only just realizing, that when you educate a girl, you educate a whole society.”
“Ignorance has no benefit, ignorance is darkness but education is the bright light of knowledge that can help us to live healthier, happier and more prosperous lives.
“Education is dangerous without morals and uprightness. We must teach our children the highest standards of honesty, piety, and hard work.
“I am glad that the students of Adawiyya Girls Academy Sokoto have this great opportunity of being offered both conventional and religious education using the most advanced modern teaching tools available in our time.
“Education is the ladder by which even the poorest can climb to the top in the society, but the ladder of education is a special ladder, it is not only the educated person who climbs, their family members and others around them can learn from them and also begin to climb the ladder to the top,” he said.
Acknowledging the school’s STEM-based approach, Osinbajo said: “A lot of thinking has gone into designing the curriculum for the school and we have ensured that we have the best teachers anywhere in the country.
“Technology and technology tools for teaching and learning are a fundamental part of our pedagogy. The school’s technology facilities are state-of-the-art and the school, in keeping with best practice, has an intentionally optimized teacher-to-student ratio.”
The Vice President thanked Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto state for the consistent support he has given to the school, especially in enrolling its teachers into the State Civil Service.
He also commended parents and guardians of the girls as well as the leadership of the Minannata community, especially the traditional chiefs led by Maigirma Ardo, Alhaji Aminu Garba Riskuwa, for their selfless service to the people
“The parents and guardians of the girls have also been outstandingly cooperative, in some cases their enthusiasm and commitment to the education of their children has gone perhaps even beyond the call of duty,” he said.
The Adawiyya Girls Academy, established in collaboration with Text Foundation – a digital and foundational literacy nonprofit organisation – is a state-of-the-art school designed to provide high-quality education to young girls from less privileged backgrounds with modern education using advanced teaching tools.
A section of the school, which combines Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in its teaching curriculum, is dedicated to training women in entrepreneurship.
