UNSAFE SCHOOL ENVIROMENT AFFECTS GIRL-CHILD EDUCATION (D/G, Thursday, August 27, 2009.PAGE 11)

A survey conducted by ActionAid Ghana, an international non-governmental organisation in 12 countries, including Ghana, has identified unsafe school environment as one of the main reasons for low girl-child school attendance.
A Senior Programme Officer of ActionAid Ghana, Mr Alhassan Sulemana, who announced this at this year’s annual regional girls camp for selected pupils at the basic level in Bolgatanga, indicated that the problem which posed insecurity for girls in schools, also tended to affect their performance.
Mr Sulemana said some of the causes of insecurity for girls in the school environment were poor school infrastructure, poor sanitary facilities, especially during the periods of the month when the girl-child had to battle with the biological discomforts of womanhood.
One hundred and twenty girls, drawn from various junior and senior high schools from all the districts in the Upper East Region are attending the one week course, on the theme: "Empowering girls through education: Providing safe schools to secure girls success”.
It is aimed at supporting and building the confidence levels of the participants and also encourage them to develop greater interest in schooling. It is also targeted at raising their self-esteem to help them aim high in life.
He said in 2008, for example, the Ministry of Education reported that only 48 per cent out of the total number of 13,247 primary schools and 52 per cent of public junior high schools had access to toilet facilities in the country.
Mr Sulemana explained that the lack of separate and decent toilet facilities and changing rooms for girls, affect their regular school attendance, leading to poor performance or sometimes, resulting in them dropping out of school.
While commending the government and civil society organisations for pursuing programmes that promote girl-child education through interventions such as fee-free basic education, the school feeding programme and the recent free school uniform for basic schools, he called for pragmatic measures to address the problems to help achieve the Millennium Development Goal on Gender Parity.
“Ghana unfortunately missed attaining the target of gender parity ratio in basic schools in 2005 and to date, it is yet to achieve the 1:1 gender parity ratio in basic school enrolment, retention and completion”.
He, however, said the country made modest gains with the current statistics being 1:0.97 gender parity index (boys against girls) compared to 1:0.93 in 2005.
He again said girls’ enrolment and retention in primary schools continued to be as low as 1:0.70 in many deprived districts and communities in that region and Ghana as a whole.
The Regional Girl Child Education Officer, Madam Silvia Samari, said the Ghana Education Service would continue to collaborate with organisations such as ActionAid Ghana and other civil society organisations to provide environmental, nutritional and intellectual safety for the education of the girl-child.
The Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Mrs Lucy Awuni, who opened the camp, said the government would not relent in its efforts to place the education of the girl-child high on its agenda to uplift the social, economic and political status of women.
She said that would be achieved through the building of more school infrastructure and also rehabilitate old school buildings, with the provision of sanitation facilities to promote teaching and learning.
She bemoaned the ritual of girls migrating to the southern part of Ghana in search of non-existent jobs at the end of every term, and said the regional co-ordinating council, with support from the Department of Children of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs had instituted a programme to prevent young girls below the ages of 16 from travelling unaccompanied to the south to engage in menial jobs.
The Vice Principal of the Bolgatanga Technical Institute, Mr Francis Bambogo, admonished the girls not to shy away from technical and vocational education, adding that through that, some of them could make a headway in life.
During the one-week stay, the participants would visit some institutions; have discussion on issues including sexual and reproductive healthcare,career development and self-assertiveness. They would also visit some tourist sites in the region.