Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari announced grants of over N4,906 million to some 188 secondary schools in 34 local government areas (LGAs) of the state.
Speaking at an event in Rimi LGA’s Abukur on Tuesday, the governor said each school will receive a grant of N26.1 million to support disadvantaged students.
He said the grant was secured through the Initiative for Adolescent Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project as part of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme.
“Education has been a top priority of the state government since the formation of this government in 2015,” Massari said.
“This is because the future of the country, and indeed the future of the country as a whole, depends on the level of education of its citizens.
“In this regard, we will continue to provide effective teaching and learning environments in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the state.”
The Premier said his government was creating an enabling environment for school-aged children to enroll to ensure equal opportunities for all Indigenous people in the state.
“Additionally, the state government has built new schools, hired more qualified teachers and provided adequate learning and teaching materials.
“This has also affected the timely payment of salaries and ensuring timely promotion of staff. These measures have been taken to ensure that all students achieve excellent results.
“We’ve also improved working conditions for teachers,” Massari said.
He added that the AGILE project is one of many in the state supported by his government in collaboration with international development partners such as the World Bank.
Governor Masari further stated that the project aims to bridge the gap between completion of primary education and transition to secondary education, especially for adolescent girls.
He added: “When this government took over leadership in 2015, less than 50 per cent of primary school leavers moved on to secondary school.
“But with the establishment of 68 pilot secondary schools across the state, access to secondary schools has improved dramatically.
“Students graduating from Primary School automatically transfer to Junior Secondary School (JSS), which is next door to their previous school, achieving 100% transfer.
“Through the AGILE project, the state government has distributed School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to all 578 secondary schools in the state.
“It’s a different amount based on their size and other criteria including student enrollment.”
Masari said that with the disbursement of the SIG grant, many toilets and classrooms have been renovated, while water points have been installed to ensure students have access to clean water, among other things.
Earlier, Alhaji Mustapha Shehu, coordinator of the state’s AGILE project, said more than 37,758 disadvantaged households had benefited from the state’s CCT project.
According to him, beneficiaries are identified through poverty and microeconomic quintiles completed under the project in 2021.
He added that one of the conditions for the state to build 150 new secondary schools is to recruit 2,000 teachers within two years, starting with construction and renovation under the project’s three components.
“But the public will be interested that Massari has recruited 1,237 teachers and this year’s condition is 1,000.e
“The state has reached the level of building 50% of the schools,” Shehu revealed.
According to him, 98 percent of all conditions for the construction of the school were completed in March.
Massari will soon be invited to inaugurate the construction of 75 new secondary schools, he said.
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