Food for girls programme to involve 27 schools in Upper West

Wa (Upper West) 16 Nov. '98

Twenty- seven schools in Upper West region are going to benefit from the World Food Programme (WFP)- food for girls in school project in the three northern regions. The beneficiary schools, which are in the Lawra, Nadowli and Sissala districts are to receive eight kilograms of maize and two litres of vegetable oil per girl, who attend school for at least 85 per cent of the school days in a month. Mr. Bede Ziedeng, Deputy Regional Minister, who made this known when he launched the WFP day at Wa, said in the northern sector only about 35 per cent of school enrollment are girls. He attributed this to poverty, low parental care and community attitude towards girls' education and the opportunity cost of sending girls to school. He said the intervention of the WFP was timely because the general poverty level in the region was a major contributory factor to the high drop out rate of girls from school. District assemblies in the region should give special attention to their poverty alleviation programme in such a way that women would benefit from the programme. The Deputy Minister called on Regional and District directors of Education in the region to show commitment and transparency in the implementation of the programme. Mr Ken Dabuo, acting Regional Director of Education gave the assurance that the regional directorate of education would embark on a serious campaign to increase the enrolment of girls. He asked the beneficiary schools to show gratitude and appreciation for the package by taking full advantage of it.