About 40,630 secondary school girls will soon benefit from Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) under the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE-AF) project in Yobe State.

The figures represent the first cohort of the CCT component of the project.

The project’s coordinator in the state, Abdullahi Bula, made this known in Damaturu on Friday.

According to him, the beneficiaries are mainly girls transiting from primary six to Junior Secondary (JS) 1 and JS 3 to Senior Secondary (SS) 1.

He said each beneficiary would receive over ₦60,000 per annum to address the financial demands of the transition periods, which included the purchase of uniforms, bags and sandals.

“The incentive is called CCT because it will be paid on the condition of school attendance.
We will pay them for the first, second and third terms on the condition that they will have at least 70 per cent attendance at school,” Mr Bula said.

The coordinator said that news of the CCT had already yielded good results as enrolment into SS1 and JS1 increased by over 10,000 students between 2024 and 2025.

He said that AGILE – AF, which took off in March 2024 in Yobe State, was a five-year project funded through a loan obtained by the state from the World Bank.

Mr Bula explained that Yobe State and 10 other states would access $700 million for the implementation of the project through a basket funding system.

The coordinator said, “The first set of AGILE-benefitting states received $500 million, and they included Borno, Katsina, Kano, Kebbi, Plateau, Ekiti and Kaduna states. Yobe and 10 others, who later joined the project through Additional Financing (AF), will access $700 million from the bank through a basket system. Under the system, the funds are in custody of the World Bank. Each state will draw the funds according to its performance and approved limit.’’

He said based on the state’s work plan, 50 new senior and junior girls secondary schools would be built across the 17 local government areas of the state.

Mr Bula said that the project, in collaboration with School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs), would also renovate 225 senior and junior secondary schools across the state.

The coordinator said that the SBMCs were earlier trained in developing a School Improvement Plan (SIP), adding that funds would be sent to each SBMC to renovate schools under its care.

He added that non-formal learning centres would also be established across the 17 local government areas of the state to grant a “second chance” to girls who left school to get married or for any other reason.

“These centres will be provided in the local communities for the girls to be taught literacy, numeracy and vocational skills. They will be given starter packs to start their businesses,” Mr Bula said.

The coordinator listed other activities of the organisation to include behavioural change communication and instilling life skills as well as system strengthening and monitoring.

He said that AGILE was initiated to provide more opportunities for girls to complete secondary education.

“It has been observed that most of the children roaming the streets and hawking are girls. Some of them are out of school; others are in school. But even those attending schools spend most of their time outside the school. This project aims to ensure the enrolment, retention and completion of secondary education by girls,” Mr Bula said.

(NAN)