Unequal gender relation affects girl’s education-ActionAid

Bimbilla (N/R), Sept 7, GNA – A survey conducted by ActionAid Ghana in collaboration with Songtaba, both non-governmental organizations, has revealed that unequal gender relations in the social environment between boys and girls affects girl’s enrolment, retention and performance in school.

It said boys and girls had not been equal in the social environment at home, community and at school and this impacted negatively on the physiological and intellectual development of girls.

Madam Gifty Baka, Project Manager of Stop Violence Against Girls in School (SVAG) of ActionAid, said this at Bimbilla on Monday during the opening of a five-day Regional Girls’ Camp.

The Regional Girl’s Camp is being celebrated on the theme; “Empowering girls through education, the role of ICT” and brought together 130 girls from 13 schools to participate in the forum.

It was started with a procession through the streets of Bimbilla to encourage parents to send their girl-child to school.

The camp is aimed at giving exposure to the girls and imbibing in them the sense of self confidence to empower them to fight against any form of violation of their fundamental human rights as well as to socialize them.

Madam Baka said the baseline survey, which was conducted in 2009, also revealed that high poverty levels resulted in high child labour, school dropout and forced child marriages in Nunumba areas.

“More than half the people surveyed reported that they had to miss school because of household chores or selling in the market, looking after younger children or parents could not afford the cost associated with school,” she said.

She suggested that communities enacted bye-laws to curtail social and domestic violence against children especially girls and to establish mechanisms to monitor the implementation and adherence to the bye-laws adding that some of the interventions by the NGO was yielding positive results.

Madam Baka said SVAG is among some of the positive initiatives being implemented by ActioAid and Songtaba to enhance girls' interest in school, encourage them to remain in school and create awareness about their rights and fight against any form of abuses.

Nanumba North and Nanumba South districts are implementing it.

Mrs. Adam Lamnatu, Programme Coordinator for Songtaba, said the SVAG had over the past three years had built the confidence of the beneficiaries most of who had improved their academic performance.

She said some social problems such as teenage pregnancy and early marriages which was in the ascendancy in those areas had been reduced due to the awareness being created by the project and appealed to parents and the District Assembly to improve the successes achieved.