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 as part of efforts to enhance digital learning and academic development.
The presentation was made on Monday at the Rivers State Government House, Port Harcourt, on behalf of the Wife of the President, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, by the Wife of the Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, through the state coordinator of the RHI, Mrs Tonye Briggs-Onyide.
Speaking at the event, Tinubu said the learning devices were provided by the NDDC to support junior secondary school students and broaden their access to digital educational resources.
She said the iPads had been preloaded with educational applications designed to make learning easier and more engaging for the students.
The First Lady urged the beneficiary schools to ensure that the devices were used strictly for educational purposes, stressing that they were not meant for sale.
She also directed the schools to provide evidence of distribution and ensure that the learning aids reached the intended beneficiaries.
Receiving the devices, Mrs Gladys Ogudechika of Community Secondary School, Oyigbo, Oyigbo Local Government Area, thanked the Wife of the President and the 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 learning applications would greatly assist both teachers and students.
Meanwhile, the RHI has handed over more than 10,000 sanitary pads to the Rivers State Ministries of Education and Health for distribution to female students across the state.
Speaking at the occasion, which had the theme, “Empowering School Girls Through Menstrual Health,” Tinubu said the donation was part of efforts to promote menstrual health among schoolgirls.
Represented by Lady Fubara through Briggs-Onyide, the First Lady directed the two ministries to ensure that the sanitary pads reached 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 to break the silence and stigma surrounding menstrual health among young girls.
Ikuru urged the beneficiaries to speak openly with trusted and appropriate persons whenever they experienced menstrual health challenges.
She also charged the students 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 remarks, Miss Chika Wilson Marvelous of Government Girls Secondary School, Rumuokwuta, and Miss Okodu Godstime Mirabel of Government Girls Secondary School, Rumueme, appreciated the RHI for the intervention.
They pledged to use the sanitary pads effectively and maintain good menstrual health practices.