By Kabir Akintayo
A non-profit group, AMANI Muslim Women Empowerment Initiative, has donated classroom essentials to students of Nomadic Primary and Government Secondary Schools in Rugan Juli, Mararaba Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The items, which included school bags, uniforms, shoes, exercise books, and pens, were distributed on Wednesday during an outreach aimed at supporting the students in need. Some outstanding students were also rewarded with additional gift items.
Speaking during the event, the Coordinator of AMANI, Hajia Hadrat Omipidan, said the initiative was part of the group’s wider mission to empower women and reach vulnerable communities.
“AMANI is a non-governmental organization with the sole aim of empowering women in our society. Not only that, we reach out to the less privileged, visit hospitals, prisons, and donate essential items. Our outreach is not limited to these; as you can see, we are here because after our survey, we realized many pupils here lack basic school items,” she explained.
Omipidan further appealed for support from government and private organizations, noting that collaboration would enable AMANI to expand its reach to more schools and communities in need.
However, while appreciating the gesture, school heads lamented the dire conditions in their institutions. The Head Teacher of Nomadic Primary School, Aishatu Atiku, revealed that the school has only four staff, out of which just two are teachers, catering to nearly a thousand pupils.
“We have many challenges ranging from shortage of staff to malnourished pupils who come to school hungry. Parents are unable to provide meals, uniforms, or shoes. Out of the four staff, two are non-teaching, so we rely on internally generated funds from the PTA, where gurdians pay ₦2,000 per pupil, which most cannot even afford, the money is to contract additional teachers,” she said.
Similarly, the Principal of the Government Secondary School, Amos Emmanuel, noted that the school struggle to sustain teaching services by paying contracted staff ₦20,000 monthly from internally generated resources.
“Some NGOs have assisted with renovating classrooms and fixing leaking roofs, and now AMANI has donated learning kits. But we still face critical shortages of teachers, classrooms, and even access to water. We call for more interventions,” Emmanuel said.
Both school heads praised AMANI for stepping in, describing the outreach as the first of its kind and urged others to emulate the gesture. Students, in excitement, sang and prayed for the group’s continued growth.
The donation emphasize the twin challenges facing public schools in rural areas which includes scarcity of resources for learning, and the broader infrastructural and staffing gaps that require urgent government and community intervention.
Pictures from the event.