Victor Edozie
The Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI, in partnership with the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has distributed learning iPads and cash support to secondary school students in Rivers State to enhance digital learning and academic development.
The presentation was made at Government House, Port Harcourt, by the Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, represented by the Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, through the State Coordinator of RHI, Tonye Briggs-Onyide.
Senator Tinubu said the learning devices were provided by the NDDC to support junior secondary school students and broaden their access to digital educational resources, emphasising that the iPads had been preloaded with educational applications to make learning easier and more engaging.
The wife of the President who urged the benefiting schools to ensure the devices were used strictly for educational purposes, stressed that they were not meant for sale and directed the schools to provide evidence of distribution as well as ensure the learning aids reach the intended students.
Receiving the devices, Mrs. Gladys Ogudechika of Community Secondary School, Oyigbo, Oyigbo Local Government Area, thanked the Wife of the President and Wife of the Governor for the gesture, saying it would strengthen the students’ learning skills.
Similarly, Boyle Dedeboma of Community Secondary School, Akinima, Ahoada-West Local Government Area, commended the initiative, noting that the pre-installed and programmed learning applications would greatly assist teachers and students.
Meanwhile, the Renewed Hope Initiative has also handed over more than ten thousand sanitary pads to the Rivers State Ministries of Education and Health for distribution to female students across the state.
Speaking at the occasion with the theme, “Empowering School Girls Through Menstrual Health,” wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, said the donation is part of efforts to promote menstrual health amongst girls in school.
Represented by the Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, through the State Coordinator of the RHI, Mrs. Tonye Briggs-Onyide, Senator Tinubu directed the ministries to ensure that the sanitary pads reach government schools, including mixed schools, with priority given to students in rural communities.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Dr. Mina Ikuru, described the initiative as timely, saying it would help break the silence and stigma surrounding menstrual health among young girls.
Dr. Ikuru urged the beneficiaries to speak openly with trusted and appropriate persons whenever they experience menstrual health challenges, and charged them to become mentors and ambassadors of the Renewed Hope Initiative.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Vincent Wachukwu, assured that the sanitary pads would be distributed in line with the directive, including to schools in rural areas.
In their separate speeches, Miss. Chika Wilson Marvelous of Government Girls Secondary School, Rumuokwuta and Miss. Okodu Godstime Mirabel of Government Girls Secondary School, Rumueme, expressed appreciation to the Renewed Hope Initiative for the intervention.
They pledged to use the sanitary pads effectively and maintain good menstrual health practices.
