Beneficiaries of the Adolescent Girl’s Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project in Kano have called for sustainability of the initiative to boost girl’s education in the state.
AGILE Project is a five-year initiative of the Federal Government with support from the World Bank to improve secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls in the implementing states, as well as empower them to be self reliant in Borno, Ekiti, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau.
AGILE in Kano, organized a one-day sensitization meeting for mothers, parents and relevant stakeholders, on girl’s enrollment, retention transition, and completion of secondary education.
Some of the beneficiaries, from Kano, Maryam Bashir Ibrahim from GGSS Bunkure, Aisha Hussaini and Hafsat Mika’ila from madarasatul tahfizul Qura’an Doguwa, pointed out that, the intervention had assisted their education in various capacities.
However, some parents who spoke to Radio Nigeria, described the program as a catalyst to the development of education in the state.
They maintained that, the stipends were used to purchase uniforms and instructional materials for their children, saying that, street hawking had drastically reduced as a large percentage of girls are now in school.
Speaking on advantages of girls education, District Head of Bunkure, Alhaji Muhammad Isa Umar, said transition of girls from primary and secondary school has increased, due to AGILE’s intervention.
Representatives of the academia,the co-chair Kano state accountability forum on education, Professor Muhammad Shitu and state coordinator CSACEFA, Dr. Auwal Halilu explained that, the sensitization had yielded positive results, as parents and stakeholders were more informed about how female education promotes societal development.
They stressed that, education assists in uplifting the standards of living through quality healthcare delivery, modern farming techniques, scholarship opportunities among others.
In her remarks, the lead person social norms component, concerned with promoting social behavioral change, Hajiya Halima Sadiya Tukur, maintained that, the sensitization was aimed at, reaching out to mothers and stakeholders across 24 local government areas,that would benefit from CCT and new schools construction and renovation.
She highlighted that, the program was clustered into three groups, with the first session at Bagwai, the second and third with 7 local government areas each, took place at Warawa and Bunkure local governments.
Hajiya Halima appreciated the response after the session, saying that it is a clear indication of how the stakeholders percieve the importance of the AGILE project.
Radio Nigeria reports that over 70 thousand students in Kano, benefitted from cash transfers for uniforms and instructional materials, in addition to construction and renovation of schools across the selected local government areas.
KHADIJAH ALIYU