Kebbi Achieves 20% Reduction in Girls’ School Dropout Rate – NANS

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has applauded Kebbi State for recording remarkable progress in girls’ education through the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project.

In a statement issued on Sunday, NANS National Sports Director, Comrade Haruna Tijjani, revealed that over 20,000 schoolgirls in Kebbi have received financial assistance to stay in school, a development that has contributed to a 20% reduction in dropout rates.

The AGILE project, supported by the World Bank, is a Federal Government initiative under the Federal Ministry of Education’s National Project Coordinating Unit (NPCU). It aims to expand access to quality education for adolescent girls by improving school infrastructure, providing conditional cash transfers to vulnerable families, tackling social barriers to education, and empowering girls with life, digital, and vocational skills.

Currently, the programme is being implemented in 18 states, including the seven original states, Borno, Ekiti, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, and Plateau, and eleven additional states such as Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Kogi, Jigawa, Kwara, Yobe, Niger, Nasarawa, Zamfara, and Sokoto.

Tijjani praised the Kebbi State Project Coordinator, Alhaji Aliyu Haido, for his exemplary leadership, describing AGILE as one of the most transformative education programmes in northern Nigeria.

> “In Kebbi State, AGILE is truly changing lives. So far, 303 schools have been upgraded, with 1,387 classrooms delivered, 1,339 renovated and 48 newly constructed. More than 7,000 additional projects, including perimeter fencing, hostels, teachers’ quarters, multipurpose halls, and skills acquisition centres, have been completed across the 21 local government areas,” he said.


The NANS official also noted that over 40,000 classroom furniture sets and 1,336 WASH facilities, toilets and boreholes, have been provided to enhance the learning environment. Construction is ongoing for 30 new junior secondary schools and 18 senior secondary schools, while 75 primary schools have been upgraded to junior secondary level and 45 junior schools elevated to senior secondary.

Through AGILE’s conditional cash transfer scheme, more than 20,000 girls have been supported to continue their education, while over 2,000 teachers have been trained in gender-sensitive teaching methods. Community leaders, including traditional and religious figures, have also been instrumental in promoting girls’ education across the state.

According to Tijjani, the initiative has yielded impressive results, girls’ enrolment has risen by 40%, learning outcomes in Mathematics and English improved by 30%, and dropout rates declined by 20%.

He attributed the success to strong collaboration between the project leadership and local communities, urging other states to adopt Kebbi’s model to enhance educational opportunities for girls and drive long-term social and economic growth.