KANO, Nigeria – In a recent move to potentially enhance enrolment rates, Kano State‘s Governor Abba Yusuf, announced a N20,000 stipend for schoolgirls within the region.
The announcement, made during his Independence Day speech on Sunday, October 1, 2023, at Sani Abacha Stadium in Kofar Mata, Kano, indicated that more than 45,000 schoolgirls would be part of this pilot scheme.
“To support girl-child education and encourage parents to send their daughters to school, we are issuing a stipend of N20,000 to over 45,000 girl-child as a pilot scheme,” Governor Yusuf stated.
Additionally, Yusuf introduced the plan to bring back girl-child school buses to ferry these students to and from their educational institutions.
This stipend is one among several steps the governor is taking in an effort to address education in Kano State.
Yusuf also mentioned intentions to establish more primary and secondary schools throughout the state’s 44 local government areas. The governor cited a need to address the issue of out-of-school children, saying, “in our quest to mop up all out-of-school children roaming our streets.”
The governor went on to discuss other educational provisions, including the ongoing renovation of schools and the distribution of free uniforms, school bags, shoes, exercise books, and textbooks to primary and Junior Secondary School pupils at the pilot stage.
He also hinted at a future program providing one free meal per day to primary school pupils.
Highlighting the state’s support for higher education, Yusuf shared plans to sponsor 1,001 first-class graduates for Master’s programs at universities outside of Nigeria.
Ending his speech, Yusuf underscored the broader challenges facing Nigeria, namely unemployment, poverty, and youth unrest, expressing his administration’s commitment to address these issues.
The governor also paid tribute to the nation’s freedom fighters and nationalists on the occasion of the independence anniversary.
