Kaduna State Government has commenced the disbursement of N15,000 Conditional Cash Transfer to over 28,000 adolescent girls in public schools across the state.

The deputy governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, made this known when she flagged off the second cohort of beneficiaries under the Adolescent Girls Initiatives for Learning Empowerment (AGILE) project in Kaduna on Thursday.

The first cohort of 7,013 beneficiaries was flagged off on August 11, 2022.

The second cohort brings the total number of adolescent girls benefiting from the project to 33,575.

Balarabe said Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, will continue to give priority to education by committing 27.3 per cent of the state budget on average from 2019-2022.

She reiterated the state government’s support to girls which will enable become mothers, workers, entrepreneurs, political leaders, lawyers, medical doctors, and academics in various disciplines of human endeavor.

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The deputy governor stated that AGILE is a World Bank-supported programme designed by the Federal Ministry of Education to address constraints the girl child faces in accessing and completing basic education, adding that Kaduna State is piloting the programme, which will be implemented in seven states in Nigeria.

Balarabe, however, appreciated the Federal Government and the World Bank for their effort in ensuring that the girl child does not remain a societal burden but positive change makers.

On her part, the State Commissioner for Education, Halima Lawal, said the AGILE project has three components – creating a safe and inclusive learning environment, empowering the girl child with critical life skills, and capacity strengthening.

Lawal said these would help in reducing the burden on parents and caregivers.

She said of the first group of 7,013 beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer, flagged off in August, 4,312 are from Junior Secondary Schools (JSS 1) and 2,701 from Senior SS1 drawn from 24,165 households within the state.

“We will continue to monitor these beneficiaries which serve as a source of encouragement for enrollment in school,” the commissioner added.

The Star