Katsina State Governor Dikko Umaru Radda has tasked communities benefiting from the Adolescent Girls’ Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) to follow up their money and ensure judicious utilization of the funds.
AGILE is a World Bank supported project that aims to improve secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls in the implementing states as well as to empower them to earn a living.
Radda launched the third phase of the AGILE School Improvement Grant of over N8.4 billion to 100 selected secondary schools across the state.
He warned that failure to achieve 80% of the expected project deliverables could lead to disqualification from future grants.
The Governor tasked School Based Management Committees (SBMC) of benefiting schools to judiciously utilise the funds while calling on the community members to ensure that there is accountability in the process.
Governor Radda said each of the benefiting schools is expected to receive over ₦85 million which is to be used for renovation of dilapidated classrooms, construction of additional classrooms, toilets, and provision of furniture and water facilities.
“Appealing to the SBMCs to make the best use of the money, Governor Dikko Radda warned that failure to achieve at least 80% of the expected project deliverables could result in losing the opportunity for future grants”.
“He directed members of the benefiting communities to closely monitor the projects to ensure quality work and report any substandard work for necessary action”, Ibrahim Mohammed, Chief Press Secretary to the governor quoted him as saying in a statement.
He added that the AGILE grant disbursement has covered over four hundred secondary schools across the state, with less than thirty schools remaining.
In her remarks, Hajia Hadiza Yar’adua, Katsina State Commissioner of Basic and Secondary Education said that the ministry is undertaking a thorough review of the school curriculum to ensure meeting educational standards and the needs of the students.
Earlier, the State Coordinator of the AGILE, Dr. Mustapha Shehu, clarified that out of the ₦8.4 billion disbursed to one hundred schools, Rimi-Charanci-Batagarawa alone would receive ₦677 million (six hundred and seventy-seven million naira) for school improvement.
According to him, the AGILE programme is supporting over 19,000 vulnerable children in Rimi Local Government to encourage their education, adding that more vulnerable households are being identified to benefit from the programme.
The state coordinator said the programme aims to cover a total of 153, 000 households across the state.
He noted that the programme has succeeded in increasing the number of students who have access to chairs in their classrooms from about 13% to 80% in the beneficiary schools.
