As part of efforts to tackle the ”Out of School” menace and the ”Shortage of Employable Skills among Youths”, the Centre for Integrated Health Programmes, CIHP has successfully trained and graduated another sixty vulnerable young females after a thirteen-week training in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, S.T.E.M.
The Training targeting young women between sixteen and twenty-four was carried out through the STEM Hub Empowerment, S.H.E. Programme Cohort Three. This brings to a total of one hundred and eighty young vulnerable females, trained free of charge with accommodation and feeding in the last year, courtesy of the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, US CDC through the Centres for Integrated Health Programmes, CIHP.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Ikeja, the Chief Executive Officer of CIHP, Dr. Bola Oyeledun, said the objective of the STEM Hub Empowerment, S.H.E. was to engage girls productively to reduce their vulnerability to Sexual and Domestic Violence in society.
” So this programme came as a result of data which revealed that in Nigeria and across the world, girls are progressively left behind, especially in technology. So you don’t find a lot of girls in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, S.T.E.M” she noted.
Hinting that plans are on for a new S.H.E centre at Obalende to accommodate more intakes, Dr. Oyeledun explained that the training transcends just coding, but also includes assistance with internship placement, linking them up with mentors, while equipping them with moral values and necessary life skills.
While advising the beneficiaries to build on the knowledge and skills gained from the centres to become self-reliant, the CIHP boss noted that the selection process for the young girls is done through the National Vulnerability Index by the Federal Ministries of Health and Women Affairs and Social Development.
On his part, the Senior Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Basic and Secondary Education, Mr. Eniola Opeyemi, applauded CIHP for complimenting the state government’s efforts in the education sector. He urged other Non-Governmental Organisations to follow suit, as the government alone cannot provide the needed change in society.
”They have done a lot in not just training the students but also transforming lives and this aligns with the T.H.E.M.E.S. Plus Developmental Agenda of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu which is hinged on ”Leaving no one behind” and ensuring that everyone is carried along.
Mr. Opeyemi also urged the graduates not to rest on their oars but to aspire and use this platform provided by CIHP’s S.T.E.M. Hub for Empowerment, S.H.E. as an avenue to attain greatness.