Katsina State government on Wednesday in Abuja reiterated its commitment to the furtherance of girl-child education.
This, it said, would be done through increased enrolment, retention in school, completion of secondary school education and progression to higher levels of education.
Communication Officer, Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment Project (AGILE), Ms Linda Irabor stated that Gov. Aminu Masari gave the assurance.
She added that the Katsina State governor gave the assurance when a delegation of the National Project Coordinating Unit (NPCU) of AGILE Project and the World Bank paid him a working visit.
She quoted Masari as saying that the resolution would provide recognition of the huge impact of education on the socio- economic and cultural wellbeing of the society.
The governor said government had put necessary measures in place to ensure that graduates of secondary schools were well-learned and productive members of society.
He pledged support for the AGILE project in Katsina State and said government would get out-of-school children, especially girls and young married girls re-enrolled in schools and empower them through skills acquisition.
The AGILE project’s Task Team Leader, Ms Aisha Garba, commended Katsina State’s level of project implementation as she noted that there had been lots of improvement since the bank’s previous visit.
The task team leader suggested that the process of qualifying examinations for secondary school students should be made all-inclusive and digitalised, taking cue from countries with peculiarities with Nigeria.
Garba noted that many students who failed the qualifying examinations and those who could not afford the fees dropped out of school, thereby worsening the state’s out-of-school children index.
She suggested that the state should collaborate with the World Bank on the establishment of skills acquisition centres for secondary schools and young married girls.
The AGILE Project’s Deputy National Coordinator, Mrs Ajanigo Abuka, commended Katsina State on its impressive level of project implementation.
Haruna also commended the state on the judicious use of resources to achieve the project’s objectives.
Part of the facilities inspected by the NPCU-World Bank team were the proposed sites for construction of new schools, renovated school buildings and classrooms, hostels, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities.
The AGILE project is a World Bank-assisted project of the Federal Government.
It aims at improving secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls in the current implementing states of Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau. (NAN)