Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State has inaugurated the disbursement of over N4.906 billion grant to about 188 secondary schools across the 34 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.
In his remarks at the event on Tuesday at Abukur, Rimi LGA, the governor said each of the schools would receive N26.1 million grants to support vulnerable students.
He said that the grant, which was obtained through the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project, was part of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme.
Masari said: “From the inception of this administration in 2015, education has been placed as top priority by the state government.
“This was due to the fact that the future of the state in particular, and that of the nation in general are determined by the level of education of the citizens.
“In this regard, we will continue to provide an enabling environment for effective teaching and learning in elementary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the state.”
The governor said that his administration was providing a conducive atmosphere for the enrollment of school-age children into schools to ensure that equal opportunity was given to all the indigenes of the state.
“In addition, the state government constructed new schools, employed additional qualified teachers as well as provided adequate learning and teaching materials.
“It also effected prompt payment of salary, ensured timely promotion of staff as at the time when do. These measures were adopted to ensure excellent outcomes for all pupils and students.
“We have also improved working conditions for the teachers.”Masari said.
He added that the AGILE project was one of the many in the state championed by his administration in collaboration with international development partners like the World Bank.
Governor Masari further said that the project was designed to bridge the gap between the completion of primary school education and transition to secondary education, especially for adolescent girls.
He added: “When this administration took over the mantle of leadership in 2015, less than 50 per cent of pupils who finished primary school transited to secondary schools.
“But with the establishment of 68 number pilot secondary schools across the state, access to secondary schools greatly improved.
“Pupils who passed out from primary schools, automatically transited to Junior Secondary Schools (JSS), which is the next door to their former schools, achieving 100 per cent transition.
“Through the AGILE project, the state government disbursed the School Improvement Grant (SIG) to all the 578 secondary schools in the state.
“This was with different amounts, according to their size and other criteria which included enrollment of students.”
Masari said that with the disbursement of the SIG grant, many toilets and classrooms were renovated, while water points reticulated to ensure students have access to clean water, among other things.
Earlier in his remarks, the Coordinator of the AGILE project in the state, Alhaji Mustapha Shehu said over 37,758 vulnerable households benefited from the CCT project in the state.
According to him, the beneficiaries were identified across the state through the Poverty and Micro Economic Quintile that was done under the project in 2021.
He added that under the three components of the project, starting from construction and renovation, one of the conditions for the state to construct 150 new secondary schools was the recruitment of 2,000 teachers within two years.
“But it will interest the public to know that Masari had already recruited 1,237 teachers, and the condition for this year is 1,000.e
“The state had reached the level to construct 50 per cent of the schools.” Shehu disclosed.
According to him, 98 per cent of all the conditions for the construction of the schools had been completed and within the month of March.
He said that Masari would soon be invited to inaugurate the construction of 75 new secondary schools.
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