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In its 2022 budget, the Kano State Government has so far allocated more over N1.02 billion for initiatives linked to girls’ education.
This was announced by Mairo Bello, co-chair of the Girl Education Partnership, in Kano on Saturday during a presentation of the results of the 2022 girl education budget for the state to the general public and key stakeholders.
According to a source, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office’s governance program Partnership to Engage, Reform, and Learn provided funding to help the dissemination.
Bello clarified that while N868.6 million was allocated for budget lines specifically for females, N155.5 million was released for programs relating to both boys’ and girls’ education.
She claimed that out of the N868.6 million, N32.9 million went toward food, N116.6 million toward a transitional exam, N177.6 million went to the National Examination Council, and N90 million went toward a test administered by the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies.
Others, according to her, included N12 million for the State Agency for Mass Education and N132 million for secondary school upgrades for girls.
She continued by saying that N12.5 million had also been released as part of the state’s Girl Education Project for maintenance on shuttle buses used to carry girls to and from school.
She thanked the state government in particular for allocating $12.5 million to rehabilitate 20 shuttle buses that will take girls to schools in the state’s major cities.
She went on to say that the change came about as a result of citizens’ groups’ persistent agitation on behalf of increased government spending on girls’ education.
This is an important step for us because the shuttle buses will help with the free transportation of girls from low-income households to school.
By removing constraints related to transportation and distance, this will dramatically boost girls’ access to school.
By transporting the girls to and from school and safely bringing them home again, it also acts as a security measure.
Long-term, this will boost girls’ enrollment, retention, transition, and completion rates in school, the expert said.
Only 3% of the total state budget for 2021, according to an analysis of the budget supported by PERL, was allocated specifically for interventions involving girls, she claimed.
According to her, this motivated the citizens’ group to advocate to the appropriate government institutions for an increase in budgetary allocation for certain programs aimed at improving the education of girls.
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