Jalaluldeen Usman, the information officer in the Bauchi State Ministry of Education has disclosed criteria to be met by the beneficiaries of its Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE), an initiative sponsored by the World Bank.
In an interaction with WikkiTimes, Usman pointed out that each beneficiary is expected to present a grantor to secure the stipulated payment of N5,000 and N10,000 for girls in junior and senior secondary schools respectively.
Over 16,000 girls across Bauchi have been lined up to benefit from the scheme. To qualify for the initiative, each of the beneficiaries must have an average of 80 per cent school attendance in a term.
Usman explained that the project is to motivate female students to have more passion for education and also get access to quality education.
The initiative also gives girl-child who have dropped out of school due to economic issues the chance to go back to school and complete the second stage of education.
AGILE Begins N10,000 Cash Transfer To Girls In Bauchi Secondary Schools
The information officer added that each female student is also expected to have a bank account, noting that some states have commenced the program for some years now
“Yes we are going to create a student account for each and every female student and all of these students will have to present a grantor before creating the account and they will all be granted an ATM card. Some states have started for the past 2 years now which means the project still has probably 3 years to end its duration.
According to him, the program may last for five years or exceed if the World Bank seems satisfied with the impact gained as a result of the program.
“Ideally, the project was supposed to last for a period of 5 years. Probably, if the World Bank seems satisfied with the project and has achieved the aim it wanted, it can continue sponsoring the project even after Kaura’s administration” he added
“Hopefully the program will start this year. We are just waiting for the approval of the World Bank to grant us money and we shall commence the program” he said.
He said all necessary things are put in place for the commencement of the program in the state before the year runs out, “hopefully the program might kick off before the end of the year.”
WikkiTimes reports that the Bauchi State Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) will empower girls in junior and senior secondary schools with a conditional cash transfer of N5,000 and N10,000 respectively to support their secondary education and as part of tactics to encourage them.
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.
