By Philip Yatai

Some women and young girls who never had the opportunity to go to school and school dropouts on Wednesday commended Care and Action Research Non-Governmental Organisation (CaRE-NGO) for giving them a second chance.

The beneficiaries of the organisation’s Functional Literacy classes gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Wednesday.

They told NAN on the sideline of the school’s end-of-year party to celebrate progress in the last one year, that the free school has provided them with opportunity to make up for lost opportunity.

One of them, Grace Audu, 40, a widow and mother of seven, told NAN that she came to the school to learn how to read and write so that she can communicate better.

Audu said that she did not get the opportunity to go to school because she was married off at the age of 12, blessed with seven children and never got the opportunity to return to school.

“So, I grew up not knowing how to read and write and it pains me because I find it difficult to communicate with people.

“But thank to CaRE-NGO, I can now read and write, and I wish to continue learning and further my education if given the opportunity,” she said.

Also, Comfort Gambo, 23, equally expressed gratitude that she can now read and write.

The adolescent told NAN that she found it difficult to mingle with her peers or even go to church because she couldn’t read and write.

“I decided to look for an adult education centre and that was how I came here and today, six months after, I can read and write like other people with confidence,” she said.

Similarly, Mrs Ene James, 40, a mother of two, commended CaRE-NGO for given her a second chance to learn how to read and write.

“I came to learn how to read and write because if you cannot read and write, you will not be able to communicate with people and that can make one lose his or her self-esteem,” James said.

The Coordinator of the functional literacy classes, Prof. Bala Dogo, said that there are currently more than 100 adult women and adolescent boys and girls learning basic literacy and numeracy at the centre.

According to him, the essence is to thank God for the successful journey for the last one year, celebrate with one another and collect reports cards.

Dogo said that over 1,000 adults and adolescent have passed through the literacy class, some of which went on to study further up to post-graduate level.

He said that the organisation’s plan for 2023 was to scale up educational intervention – more teaching facilities, teachers, audiovisual equipment, and internet facilities, adding that the learners would also be exposed to phonics.

He commended the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-Small Grant Programme (SGP) Nigeria, being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for supporting CaRE-NGO to serve the people better.

He particularly commended the organisations for renovating the centre, under the Climate Smart Agriculture project, making it more conducive for learning.