International Girl Child Day 2020
DoTheDream YDI /Education District VI Partnered with Finland, Ireland in Girls Education, Capacity Building for Teachers and Principals
As part of Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu’s Education Transformation Plan on Public-Private Partnership towards Private & Development sector engagement, Education District VI under the leadership of Mrs Oludara Okelola partnered with; DoTheDream YDI, Prime Minister’s Office Finland, Sheroes Global, Ireland, ALLTEKS, United Kingdom in girls education on the occasion of International Girl Child Day celebration as well as capacity building for Education District VI teachers and interactive sessions with the Principals of the District in building best practices
With the Theme Our Voice, Our Equal Future – two days event was held virtually via Zoom Network. The event was largely attended by Students, Teachers and Principals from Education District VI in Lagos State. Speakers from around the world joined the 2 days event to make it a complete success, the speakers were:
· Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, Honourable Commissioner for Education, Lagos State.
· Mrs. Oludara Okelola, Tutor General/Permanent Secretary, Education District VI.
· Councillor Yemi Adenuga, The First Black Councillor, The Republic of Ireland.
· Ms. Riina Pursianen, Strategy & SDGs Partnerships- Prime Minister’s Office Finland.
· Ms. Marian Ogundairo, Digital Transformation and Business Strategy Consultant.
· Oluwatoyin Aromire, The President of DoTheDream YDI
· Adebusuyi Olutayo Olumadewa, Founder & Executive Director of DoTheDream YDI (Youth Development Initiative).The First Session started with Mr. Adebusuyi Olutayo Olumadewa welcoming all the guest speakers and attendees made up of the Members of Education District VI, The Principals, Teachers and the Youths (the event focused mainly on them).
Mr. Oluwatoyin Aromire inspired the participants to be the best in all they do, encouraged the girls to be the best they possibly can in any given situation and admonished the world leaders to pay attention to girls by giving them the needed voice in order to fully maximize their potential.
The opening speech was delivered by Mrs Oludara Okelola, Tutor General/Permanent Secretary, Education District VI; she started by appreciating all the participants from various schools in Education District VI and encouraged them to take advantage of the opportunities that were presented before them
Mrs. Folasade Adefisayo, The Honourable Commissioner of Education, Lagos State, delivered a keynote speech in which she inspired the girls with powerful messages. She told the students that it is a wonderful time to be alive, and she further encouraged the students to take their destiny in their hands by making their voice count for something remarkable in the society. She also encouraged the students to embrace technology because the world has now become a global village.
Ms. RiinaPursianen from The Office of The Prime Minister of Finland, who is responsible for ensuring everybody in Finland partake in 2030 Agenda, shared her message of hope by saying that “the future is bright for a Nation, also bright for the girls”.
She went on to explain that in Finland, female education is crucial in achieving the SDGs goals. She also expressed that girls have the keys required to make positive changes. She also encouraged the girls to use their voices wisely to be the change that will recreate their world for good.
Councillor Yemi Adenuga, the first black councillor in Ireland delivered her presentation to the students by encouraging them to embrace positive actions, positive speaking, and positive thinking to make their world better. She went on to encourage the girls by letting them know that “the only thing that can stop you is you”. She further encouraged them with her story and explained that as the first Black Nigerian woman to be elected to Public Office in Ireland, she was able to make history.
She encouraged the youths by saying if she could do it, they can do it as well. Furthermore, she urged them to drop all excuses for not succeeding because when she was told that she would amount to nothing and would end up in the street as a prostitute, she made conscious and firm decisions to change the negative projection to positive achievement and put in all the efforts to succeed; she turned her lemon to a lemonade.
Ms. Marian Ogundairo- a Digital Transformation Consultant in the United Kingdom delivered a presentation titled “You Are Enough”. Through the message in her presentation, she inspired the students to have a plan for their life and start from where they are. She also encouraged the students to always be thankful in all situations; she asked the students to learn how to combine their God given talent with their experience in order to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead of them.
Gavat Tawakalitu from Opebi Senior High School and Omotosho Fathai from Army Children Senior High School thrilled the students and audience with awesome presentations and poems that further solidified the message from the other guest speakers.
SESSION 2
Lagos State Partners Finland, Ireland in Girls Education, Capacity Building for Teachers and Principals
The Second Session aimed at the teachers, was kicked off with a presentation from Ms. Marian Ogundairo titled “You Are Enough”. She urged the female teachers to celebrate themselves. She also pointed out the qualities that every woman should possess to allow them increase and be productive in their professions and careers
Thereafter, MS. Riina Pursianen shared the values that teachers can bring into the world of education and stated that without teachers there can be no Nation. She also encouraged the 
teachers to outdo their past and create the shift required to command the affection, respect, and admiration of the entire world. Finally, Ms. Pursianen shared how her country placed value on education and how they inspire the rest of the world to make teaching a respected profession that is highly regarded the world over.
Asiegbu Nsomma and Chukwu Emeka from Community Senior Secondary School, Mushin, thrilled the teachers and all attendees with the poem they recited. The poem was original, creative and eloquently delivered
Miss Abede Chidibem, the Head Girl of Opebi Senior Grammar School, dazzled all attendees with her presentations where she spoke about the importance of the girl child and also pointed out all the challenges that the girl child faces in our society. She called out the leaders in the country to address the challenges so that the girls have a better shot at a brighter future.
Councillor Yemi Adenuga delivered another inspiring presentation to the teachers where she encouraged them that their rewards are no longer in heaven but here on earth. She inspired the teachers with her personal story and shared the importance of teachers in her life. She reminded the teachers to always keep in mind that they are role models, and they can build or destroy a child’s life with the words they speak to them.
Mrs Oludara Okelola, Tutor General /Permanent Secretary, Education District VI, Ministry of Education, Lagos State Government closed the event and in her parting speech, she reminded the teachers that they are the building block of our nation because of the crucial role they play in modeling the lives and future of our children.
Mr Oluwatoyin Aromire gave the vote of thanks and closed the event.
DAY 2
Education District VI Partnered with Finland, Ireland in Girls Education, Capacity Building for Teachers and Principals
As part of Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu’s Education Transformation Plan on Public Private Partnership towards Private & development sector engagement, Ministry of Education – Education District VI under the leadership of Mrs Oludara Okelola partnered with; DoTheDream YDI, Prime Minister’s Office Finland, Sheroes Global, Ireland, ALLTEKS United Kingdom in girls Education on the occasion of International Girl Child Day celebration as well as capacity building for Education District VI teachers and interactive sessions with the Principals of the District in building best practices.
The event started with welcoming address delivered by Mr. Olutayo Olumadewa.
Afterwards, Ms. Riina Pursianen delivered the opening speech, where she showed an appreciation for the role of the Teachers. She encouraged all the Principals to create the needed shift in mindset for the young female generation and suggested that they should keep the momentum going in encouraging the young girls to speak up for themselves. Ms. Pursianen 
urged the Principals to keep engaging with the youths because they play a crucial role
in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She also reiterated that the young girls are effective contributors towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, Ms. Pursianen suggested that the young girls, if given the right opportunity become peace makers and equity builders. She went on to say that female participation and engagement in socio-economic
issues should be strengthened via policies and this starts in the schools. She implored the Principals to make this change happen and to see themselves as role models worth emulating.
Ms. Pursianen went on discussing how in Finland students were encouraged to be members of the students’ council where they make decisions for themselves. The Principals were encouraged to give the students opportunities to participate in the decision-making process so that their voices can be heard. Ms. Pursianen also talked about how the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanda Marin gave up her seat by allowing a 16 year old Ava Muruto to become the Prime Minister and thereby grant her the opportunity to make her voice heard all over Finland
Mrs. Ogunmefun Olabisi, Principal of Community Senior Secondary School shared her vision for the future where she can have opportunity to allow the girl child to grow and develop in order to become a respectable member of the society- a vision which she has started in her school. She also highlighted some of the challenges experienced by female students and suggested some solutions to help tackle the challenges. She also acknowledged the important steps and actions that have been taken by The Lagos State Government, Tutor General/Permanent Secretary, Education District VI and Do-The-Dream YDI towards the growth and positive development of the girl child.
Mrs. Rachel Adesola, Principal of Ojodu Junior Grammar School kicked off her speech by elaborating on the theme of the event, and then supported it by explaining why it is crucial to provide the relevant education and training that would allow our young girls to have equal opportunities in all spheres of life, all over the world. She mentioned the importance of allowing female students to have the opportunity to learn all about technology and its application in a digital world, stressing the point that the future is now driven by technological advancements and young girls need to embrace and learn all they can about technology. She went on to acknowledge what The Lagos State Government is doing with the adoption of technology in the education sector.
Cllr. Yemi Adenuga explained that the Irish Education is funded by the State and therefore education is free to all, except for those who opt for Private Education. All children from ages 6 to 16, must go to school under Irish Laws. All students regardless of their sex, have equal access to education and the standards are at par with other educational standards globally. The education system in Ireland assessed at an international level every four years and in the most recent ranking, Ireland was rated 4th out of the 36 organisations that were assessed, and 3rd out of 27 European Union Countries assessed for literacy. She pointed out that Finland was ahead of Ireland in the assessment ranking. Cllr. Adenuga went on to encourage all the attendees with her personal story; she talked about how she was told as a child that she would end up on the streets as a prostitute and how she took that as a challenge to change the narrative, aspire for greatness and make something of herself.
Ms. Marian Ogundairo encouraged the Teachers and Principals to embrace technology as a way to do more. She highlighted that there are not enough women in the Technology Sector and the only way to make a difference is for the young girls to be encouraged to show more interest in technology, participate in technological research and learn more about what can be done using technology. She ended her speech by telling all attendees that they are “enough the way they are, and they should not allow anyone to ever make them feel otherwise”
Mrs. Augustine Beckley, Principal of Oshodi Senior High School, complimented the Leadership Team in charge of Education in Lagos State. Shared her story as a child and talked about all the challenges she faced growing up. She also talked about how she was able to rise above the limitation and discrimination. She encouraged the young girls to learn how to be empathetic and stand up for themselves. She also opened her doors and welcomed her students to come and talk to her if they face any discrimination or domestic abuse at home or in school and she will work with her team to ensure the right actions are taken to prevent such actions from recurring whilst providing an avenue for such student to feel safe.Mrs. Oludara Okelola, Tutor General /Permanent Secretary delivered her goodwill message, congratulated, and thanked everyone for the success of the programme.
Mr Oluwatoyin Aromire left everyone with a quote from Lao Tsu, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a life time. He then encouraged the audience, to learn as much as they can and take the next steps to implement everything they have learnt from the event.
Mr. Adebusuyi Olutayo Olumadewa gave the vote of thanks and closed the event.
