RAISING GIRLS' ENROLMENT IN YENDI SCHOOLS (PAGE 20)

THE issue of low enrolment and retention of girls in schools in the Yendi Municipality persists.
The problem is, therefore, attracting the attention of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and civil society organisations in the area.
Records from the Municipal Education Directorate indicate that only 82.1 per cent and 52.3 per cent of girls enrolled in primary and junior high schools (JHS) respectively in the area for the 2007/2008 academic year compared to 100.9 per cent and 78.6 per cent for boys within the same period.
The situation has resulted in a Gender Parity Index of 0.81 for primary schools and 0.79 for JHS in the municipality.
Among the major factors restricting girls' enrolment or the continuation of their education are marriages, teenage pregnancy, betrothal and elopement, unequal division of labour at home and a lack of parental support.
It is for these reasons that the Yendi GES, in partnership with the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), has initiated a number of programmes to halt the downward trend of girls' education in the area.
The programmes include formation of girls’ clubs in the district. At the moment, there are 53 of such active clubs in the area that promote assertiveness, child and girls' rights, science and reproductive health education and life skills based on a book series developed by the WUSC.
Members are also supported to embark on quiz and other competitive activities, games and exchange of visits.
A five-day camp was recently organised for 50 selected girls to build their capacity in the exercise of their rights in decision-making, both at home and in school, aimed at encouraging them to stay in school.
It was on the theme; “Educating the girl child — A better future within grasp.”
The Gender Advocacy Advisor for WUSC, Ms Sheena Cameron, said among the objectives of the programme was creating opportunities for the girls to enable them realise their potential in future.
She explained that her organisation was a Canadian non-governmental organisation (NGO) committed to development through education, and had been operating in the Yendi District since 1997.
Ms Cameron further stated that WUSC was focussing its attention on basic education in the three northern regions by contributing effectively towards elimination of gender disparities in primary education.
She said her outfit was tackling gender related factors that affected enrolment, attendance, retention and completion of basic education by girls.
“It is our hope that following the success of this camp, the girls would act as peer-educators to bring what they have learnt back to their clubs to educate their colleagues and also sensitise their respective communities to the lessons they had learnt,” Ms Cameron stated.
The Municipal Girls' Education Officer, Ms Alice A. Attah, stressed the need for female education and mentioned attitude, culture and traditions as some of the factors that had restricted them from attaining that objective.
''In all these, there is the need to set goals and motivate the young ladies to reach their targets to ensure a secured and better future for them,” she noted.
The Yendi Municipal Director of Education, Mr Nantogmah Ziblim, urged the participants that since their destinies laid in their own hands, they should make good use of all opportunities available to them.