The Director of Girls Education Unit (GEU) of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mrs BenedictaTenniSeidu, has underscored the importance of educating the Ghanaian girl, and urged parents to pay attention to that.
She indicated that the management of GES had through various directives removed all administrative barriers to the education of girls, adding that there was no excuse for a girl not to be in school.
Mrs Seidu said this at a sensitisation durbar at Bamiankor, a farming community in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region.
The event, which was held on the theme “our time is now: our rights, our future”, formed part of activities by the unit to commemorate the 2022 International Day of the Girl (IDG) and also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the GEU.
It was also used to sensitise the community on the prevention of pregnancy among school girls and the facilitation of re-entry into school for young mothers.
The Director of GEU said, “We have removed all administrative barriers that hinders the education of girls and “so parents and everyone should take advantage of this and send your girl-child to school.
“Even if that girl has gotten pregnant or given birth, we are not throwing her away. She is still a Ghanaian child whose right to education is guaranteed both by God and law”.
The Paramount Chief (Omanhene) of Gwirae Traditional Area, AwulaeAngamaTu-Agyan II, pleaded with parents and members of the community to forgo all cultural misconceptions about the education of girls and rather invest their resources in the education of their daughters.
He observed that from his own experience as a father of six daughters and two sons, female children were much kinder, considerate and supportive to their aging parents than their male siblings.
The Paramount Chief explained that daughters tend to respond to the socio-economic needs of their parents in their old age, which should inform the investment in their education.
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Nzema East, Mrs Elizabeth DorcasAmoah, urged parents to take advantage of all the interventions by the government, including the Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy and School Feeding Programme to send their children, especially the girls, to school.
The Municipal Director of Education (MDE) for EffiaKwesimintsim,Ms Catherine Andoh Mensah, Queen-mother of GwiraBansa, Nana Adwomonzi II, MDE for Nzema East, Mr Nathaniel K. Effum, and MsAgartha Mensah, the headmistress of GWIRASEC, all emphasised the importance of girls’ education.
The occasion was characterised by a host of activities, including a procession of school children through the principal streets of Bamiankor and Anibil, a parade by the Gwira Senior High school cadet, drama performances, poetry and speeches.
The International Day of the Girl (IDG) is a global event observed on October 11 each year to raise awareness of the obstacles that girls face, and to also celebrate and reinforce their achievements,as it was done through a sensitisation durbar at Bamiankor, a farming community in the Nzema East Municipal of the Western Region.
It was also used to sensitise the community on the prevention of pregnancy among school girls and the facilitation of re-entry into school for young mothers.
BY TIMES REPORTER
