U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has expressed U.S. Government readiness to support and enhance girl-child education in Nigeria.

Kerry said this in his opening remarks before a closed door meeting with some Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students and other gifted girls’ groups in Abuja on Wednesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that STEM is a U.S. programme aimed at encouraging girl-child education in science and technology.

Others at the meeting include “opportunity students” under the U.S Scholarship Programme, Violere Group.

The secretary expressed concern that there were many girls who never had the opportunity to go to school, while many others were forced into early marriage.

He said the U.S Government was ready to work with the Federal Government to help girls have better education.

“So, we are working very hard to empower the girls through education so that they will be able to make their choices. Now, we want to see how we can all work together to empower everybody to make their choices. We can all together make our communities work, so that we can have a better society,” he said.

Kerry also commended the girls for their courage to make their choices in science and technology with mathematics.

He said: “I salute your courage and your vision for your commitment to education; we want to work with you”.

The U.S. scribe, however, challenged the girls to work harder so as to benefit from the opportunities provided for them to have better education.

He explained that it was only hard work that could make them better individuals.

He added that “USAID has committed hundred millions of dollars to these efforts to be able to help girls to make their own choices and be educated. However, it won’t happen overnight, it involves hard work and commitment to make it happen”.