The World Food Programme (WFP) has presented cheques for GH¢ 600 to GH¢ 800 to 52 girls who excelled in last year’s Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) to cater for their educational needs at the Senior High School (SHS) level.

The 52 girls, who were selected from WFP-assisted junior high schools in the Northern and Volta regions, also received certificates, books, WFP designed bags and hampers of provisions for their hard work.

Hajia Gyamila Wahabi Abdul-Razak, Officer in-charge of WFP in Tamale, who spoke on behalf of the WFP Country Representative at Yendi, said the awards, which were the 13th in the series, were to help the girls to complete SHS successfully without dropping out for lack of funds.

Hajia Abdul-Razak congratulated the girls and urged them to study hard to attain greater heights, saying, “By your achievements, you have taken positive steps to ensure that you attain your full potentials in future and we are very proud of you.”

Mr Issah Zakaria, the Yendi Municipal Chief Executive, who chaired the function, commended WFP for its contributions towards girl-child education.

He emphasised the need to educate women in society because it had the potential to impact positively on the socio-economic status of society.

Mr Nelson Aborigia, the Yendi Municipal Director of Education, who spoke on behalf of the Northern Regional Director of Education, underscored the need to educate girls and advised parents to send their girls to school.

Miss Sarah Amoabeng, a beneficiary of the WFP award, and a first year student of Abuakwa State College, expressed gratitude to WFP for the kind gesture, explaining that, it had encouraged her to study even harder to make her family and WFP proud.