Alongside Sokoto and Yobe States, Kebbi is ranked high on the list of states with high number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) has said its initiatives have increased the enrolment of girls in schools in Kebbi State.
Alongside Sokoto and Yobe States, Kebbi has one of the highest out-of-school children in Nigeria. There are up to 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, according to the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
Speaking to PREMIUM TIMES in a recent interview, the Technical Assistant on Monitoring and Evaluation for the project in Kebbi State, Awoseye Joshua, said there has been a 19 per cent increase in enrolment and retention in the girls' schools selected for the intervention.
Statistics
According to him, over 40,000 girls in 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs) are currently benefiting from the conditional cash transfer component of the project. He said N163.2 million has been disbursed under the project.
He said 25,486 beneficiaries are in the Junior Secondary School (JSS), while the remaining 14,728 are Senior Secondary School (SSS) students.
He said: "Girls from 16 LGAs are currently benefiting. There are conditions for enrolling girls into the project such as vulnerability assessment and the use of National Social Safety Net Program databases.
"It is important to mention here that the AGILE project officials plan to make subsequent payment on the condition that the girls achieve 70 to 80 per cent attendance in classes and also do very well in their studies."
He listed the benefitting LGAs to include Aleero, Arewa - Dandi, Augie, Bagudo, Bunza, Dandi, Fakai, Gwandu, Jega, Ngaski, Sakaba, Shanga, Suru, Wasagu / Danko, Yauri, and Zuru.
He added that the remaining local government areas will benefit from the project in the subsequent cohort.
About AGILE
The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) is a World Bank-assisted project of the Federal Ministry of Education geared at improving secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls aged between 10 and 20.
The pilot phase of the project started with seven states and has now been extended to 11 additional states.
The benefitting states are Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Plateau, Adamawa, Bauchi, and Gombe.
Others are; Jigawa, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara states.
According to the World Bank, over 5,000 classrooms have been renovated, and over 250,000 eligible girls have received scholarships under the project.
"The AGILE programme has supported the construction and rehabilitation of WASH facilities in secondary schools and the installation of computers and solar panels, which make attending school more convenient and conducive for girls and boys. Life skills, systems strengthening, and advocacy are other key aspects of the programme which address social norms impeding girls' education," it said.
The AGILE project has three major components. Component one is meant to address the supply-side constraints to girls' education, such as the construction and rehabilitation of classrooms, expanding existing primary and junior Secondary schools (JSS) to include Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) as well as the provision of Teaching and Learning Materials, (TLMs) to make schools functional, safe, inclusive, and more conducive for teaching and learning.
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The second component of the project is aimed at seeking support for girls' education and empowerment among families, communities, and schools.
Meanwhile, the third component aims to support institutional capacity building at the federal, state and local levels to manage, implement, and provide oversight for promoting girls' education.
"The project financially incentivises girls' transition to Junior and Senior Secondary School and ensures their attendance as well as completion," Mr Joshua said.
"Also, to ensure sustainability, this subcomponent leverages existing systems and programmes in Kebbi state, such as the National Social Safety Net Program (NASSP), which provides financial support to offset the costs of girls' enrolment in secondary school."
He added that the priority for accessing the financial incentive was given to eligible poor and vulnerable households captured in the National Social Register (NSR), established under NASSP."
