As part of preparations for the take-off of the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) Project, Federal Government has started visitation to the beneficiary States to ascertain their levels of implementation and progress.
The National Project Coordinating Unit (NPCU) led by the National Project Coordinator, Mrs. Amina Buba Haruna, visited Ekiti and Katsina States.
The AGILE Project is a 5-year initiative of the Federal Government with support from the World Bank to improve secondary education opportunities for adolescent girls in the implementing states as well as empower them to earn their living.
The implementing States are Borno, Ekiti, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau.
Mrs. Haruna said the team was in the States to find ways it could be of assistance to ensure effective project implementation for optimum results.
She emphasized the need for synergy among team members, and with the State Government so as to achieve the goals of the AGILE Project in the state.
The Ekiti State’s Project Coordinator, Mrs. Oluwayemisi Alokan, took the NPCU to the Project’s construction sites to inspect and assess the standard of work being done especially in the utilisation of the School Improvement Grants (SIG), for the renovation of existing infrastructure in schools in the State.
Mrs. Alokan disclosed the challenges faced by the State Project Implementing Unit, (SPIU), and the subsequent efforts made to address them.
In Katsina, the State Project Coordinator, Mr. Mustapha Shehu, also took the NPCU team around the Project’s sites to ascertain the ongoing construction and renovation are in accordance with the World Bank’s prescribed construction and renovation standards.
The visiting team subsequently commended State’s Project Implementing Unit (SPIU) on the standard of work and advised it to partner with the Ministry of Agriculture, alongside community youths on the planting of trees in the targeted schools to mitigate the challenges of Climate Change.
Katsina State Commissioner for Education, Associate Professor Badamasi Charanchi, expressed delight over the visit, saying the government is committed to improve Girl-child education in the State.
Part of the facilities inspected in Ekiti and Katsina States includes: school buildings being constructed or renovated, laboratories, libraries, hotels and their Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, (WASH), facilities.
The AGILE Project has World Bank support to the tune of $500 million with prospects of improved funding.
