Nigeria’s First Lady, Sen. Oluremi has distributed iPads and cash to secondary school students in Rivers to promote digital learning.
The electronic devices were presented to representatives of secondary schools on Monday at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
The initiative was implemented in collaboration with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as part of the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI).
Represented by the wife of Rivers Governor, Mrs Valerie Fubara, Tinubu said that the NDDC provided the devices to support junior secondary school students’ to access digital educational resources.
She said that the iPads were preloaded with educational applications to make learning easier and more engaging for the students.
The first lady urged benefiting schools to ensure that the devices were not sold but used strictly for educational purposes.
Tinubu also directed the schools to provide evidence of distribution and ensure that the learning aids reached the intended students.
Receiving the iPads, Mrs Gladys Ogudechika of Community Secondary School, Oyigbo, thanked the first lady for the intervention.
Ogudechika said that the gesture would strengthen students’ learning skills and improve their academic development.
Similarly, Mr Boyle Dedeboma of Community Secondary School, Akinima, Ahoada-West Local Government Area, commended the initiative.
He said that the pre-installed learning applications would greatly assist both teachers and students in teaching and learning.
In another development, Tinubu donated more than 10,000 sanitary pads to the Rivers State Ministries of Education and Health for distribution to female students across the state.
Tinubu said that the donation was aimed at promoting menstrual health among schoolgirls.
She directed the ministries to distribute the sanitary pads to government schools, including mixed schools, with priority attention to rural communities.
Dr Mina Ikuru, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, described the intervention as timely, saying that it would help to reduce menstrual health stigma among girls.
Ikuru urged beneficiaries to discuss menstrual challenges openly with trusted and appropriate persons.
She also charged the beneficiaries to become mentors and ambassadors of the Renewed Hope Initiative.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Vincent Wachukwu, assured that the sanitary pads would be distributed according to the directive.
He said that schools in rural communities would also benefit from the intervention.
Miss Chika Marvelous of Government Girls Secondary School, Rumuokwuta, commended the Renewed Hope Initiative for the intervention.
She pledged to use the sanitary pads effectively to maintain good menstrual health practices. (NAN)
