Parents Blamed for Poor Enrolment of Girls in School

THE NATIONAL President of the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church, Pastor Peter Osei Mensah, has attributed the poor enrolment of girl-child education in the country to lack of parental guidance and encouragement, as well as lack of provision of adequate needs for girls.

He added that social mentality is also a factor in low girl-child enrolment.

He described the educational system of girls today as "pyramid style" since, according to him, most of the girls gradually drop out of school, leaving very few of them who manage to reach higher levels in education.

Pastor Mensah was speaking at the launching of Girl-Child Education Fund of the SDA church under the theme: "Education of the Girl Child - A Moral Responsibility of Society" in Kumasi last weekend.

He said this situation, if not checked, would pose a great problem for the country as there would not be female doctors, engineers, judges, scientists, lawyers and politicians.

He disagreed with the concept that highly educated women hardly get husbands, stressing the need for continuous education for all to see the importance of girl child education.

Mensah noted that education enhances one's possession of knowledge and acquisition of skills, promote good citizenship and enhances one's financial standing.

He called on parents to educate their children to enable them get better jobs and prevent them from going in for "Juju" to make them rich due to ignorance and lack of knowledge, which later tends to make their lives more miserable.

According to him, educating more women means educating more children for the development of the country, because, as he put it "No educated woman would deny her children quality education."

The national president charged the females to have confidence in themselves and to learn hard to reach the highest point in education.

He expressed regrets that most females rely on men for solutions to "practical" problems which they could have solved themselves.

He said it is about time women learnt to be creative and innovative without waiting for men to do things for them.

Touching on culture, Mensah observed that culture should be more than the drumming and dancing that is usually displayed by the youth.

He observed that cultural display should show how to wear traditional clothes, how to put on men's cloth and the women's "kaba and slit."

Mensah also suggested the display of how to talk and dine with elders, how to greet them and the type of attire to put on before staging a cultural display.

In a welcome address, the Women's Ministry's director of the Central Ghana Conference of the SDA church, Mrs. Margaret Anti, disclosed that the church raised an amount of ?12 million in 2000 to begin the scholarship scheme for girl-child education

She noted that since last year, four girls have benefited from the fund through SSS education.

The beneficiaries are Diana Akua Afriyie of SDA Secondary School, Agona; Adelaide Achiaa Boateng of Yaa Asantewaa Secondary School, Gloria Serwaa of Komfo Anokye Secondary School at Wiamoase and Atenee Ali of Toase Secondary School.

She disclosed further that the average expenditure in school fees, books and other expenses came to ?1,800,000 per beneficiary.

On her part, the Minister for Primary, Secondary and Girl-Child Education, Hon. Christine Churcher, said educating the girl-child would help the fight against hunger, under-development, economic deprivation, poverty, disease and ignorance.

She said most girls had become interested in science and technology-base careers, since the decentralization of the Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) clinics to the district level.

Hon. Churcher commended members of the church for their foresight.

She appealed to churches, NGOs and other stakeholders to assist the government in its efforts to provide quality education to the youth.