Government Secondary School (GSS) Gonin Gora, on Friday in Kaduna, won an inter-school debate competition organized by an NGO, Empowering Women for Excellence Initiative (EWEI), under the project “Learning Without Limit” (LWL).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the title of the competition was “Traditional Learning is better than Digital Learning”, where some of the schools supported the notion, while others spoke against it.
The project beneficiaries, who were female students, came from eight public secondary schools within Kaduna State.
The schools were Government Girls Secondary School Kabala Costain; GSS Babban Saura, GSS Rigachukun, GSS Television, GSS Doka, GSS Rigasa, and GSS Doka.
One of the competitors of the winning school, Onyedum Mary, said she studied hard and made observations and research regarding the topic.
She thanked her teachers and organizers of the debate for giving them the opportunity to represent the school and emerged as the winner at the end of the exercise.
Earlier, Mendie Jeremiah, the Program Officer, Gender, of EWEI, said the objective was to enlighten the girls on the synergy between traditional and digital learning while improving their public speaking skills.
Jeremiah, also the Secondary Focal Person of the LWL project, said the debate was also to emphasize to the girls the importance of having traditional and digital learning systems.
He said the debate was to make the girls combine both in their learning process, noting that learning was not meant to end in the classroom in the era of digitization.
“They need to build their capacity through virtual learning by leveraging technology as well as in the classroom where they can get other sources of information to improve learning in class.
“The debate is also to build their self-esteem, confidence, and leadership qualities, just as their male counterparts, having the same right to explore life to the fullest
“It is also to bridge the digital gap between male and female students in terms of access to online learning, where we provided the girls with mobile phones and data to enable them to access information.
“We also provide them with virtual learning instructors, covering mathematics, English Language, Geography, Government, and biology,” Jeremiah said.
He further said the beneficiaries were picked from both arts and science classes.
Jeremiah disclosed that the LWL, a two-year project supported by the Girls Opportunity Alliance, had ended the first year with the day’s activities.
“The activity for the second year will begin on Oct. 8 to September 2023,” he said
Also, the Commissioner for Education in Kaduna, Hajiya Halima Lawal, commended EWEI for the initiative, noting that it was a viable tool in enhancing the girl’s courage and feeling of worth.
Lawal, represented by Mercy Kude, said the debate was a good idea for learning.
“It is about communicative competence which encompasses speaking, listening, reading, and writing,” she said.
She congratulated the participants and urged them to keep working hard to achieve all their desires in the future without feeling or thinking of their gender as a barrier.
Also, Hajiya Sa’adatu Mahmud, the Director, Gender, at Kaduna State Ministry of Human Services and Social Development, urged the girls to be more confident in all their endeavors.
She said imbibing confidence would contribute to their self-development and the state.
She said Kaduna was a gender-friendly state, noting that many of the top officeholders were women and as such, served as motivation to the girls.
NAN reports that the debate also featured an inter-school recyclable crafts display, where they were rewarded for their contribution to climate action.
