About 23,000 girls in the northern Nigeria are set to receive cash to pay for textbooks and other school-related costs as part of a UNICEF-supported programme, inaugurated in Sokoto on Monday.
The programme aims at encouraging parents to send their daughters to school.
The project is jointly implemented by the Federal Government and UNICEF, and is funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development.
The South African-based Economic Policy Research Institute has been contracted by UNICEF to help design and implement the project.
A statement by the agency’s Communication Specialist (Media and External Relations), Mr. Geoffrey Njoku, said at the ceremony held outside a primary school in Wurno Local Government Area in Sokoto, several mothers received N5,000, which is a quarter of the annual N20,000 for girls aged between six and 15.
The Sokoto State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Bello Yusuf Danchadi, while speaking on behalf of Governor Aliyu Wammakko, said, “Today, we are here to officially start the 2014/2015 enrolment drive campaign and disbursement of cash. The cash disbursement will continue every quarter for the next two years.”
The Head of UNICEF Office for North-Central and North-West, Utpal Moitra, said, “Getting girls to enrol and remain in school is particularly important in a country where 10.5 million children are out of school; 60 per cent of them in the North, and mostly girls. An educated girl will have a better life, as will her family. We know that educated girls will have healthier children. Every additional year of schooling further reduces the probability of child mortality.
“In all, 23,000 girls will benefit from the cash transfer programme in the northern states of Sokoto and Niger this year and as many as 50,000 the next year. The programme is expected to expand and also be replicated in other states.
“There is still resistance to sending children to school in northern Nigeria, because of a low perception of the value of education, particularly for girls, but also because many parents just can’t afford to send their children to school.”
Among those attending the ceremony is Nollywood star, Zack Amata, who is currently producing a film that aims to encourage parents to send their daughters to school.
“We want to tell parents: ‘If you send a girl to secondary school, you will get more money later’. The longer she attends school, the greater the economic benefits,” added Amata, who heads the Centre for Change and Community Development.
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