By
Albert Futukpor, GNA
Danayili (N/R), Oct. 20, GNA – Mrs Mary Akumbisah,
Girl-Child Education Officer of the Nanumba South District, has said child
marriage had become a major challenge in the area, affecting the education of
girls.
Though she could not readily provide figures
on the situation, Mrs Akumbisah said some pupils, who got pregnant returned to
school after delivery, but others ended up being married off truncating their
education.
She advised girls to report cases of early
and forced marriages to the Girls’ Education Office for redress.
Mrs Akumbisah stated this at a durbar of
chiefs and people of Danayili in the Nanumba South District of the Northern
Region to mark this year’s International Day of the Girl-Child.
It was organised by the Regional Advisory
Information and Network Systems (RAINS), a non-governmental organization, as
part of the Strategic Approaches to Girls’ Education (STAGE) project.
It was funded by the United Kingdom’s
Department for International Development (DFID) under the Leave No Girl Behind
(LNGB) programme of its Girls’ Education Challenge Window II.
STAGE, which is a five-year project with a
target of 20,100Â marginalised girls,
seeks to support their education to improve their lives by achieving and
acquiring literacy and numeracy skills, needed for life and work.
The lead implementing NGO is World Education
Incorporated (WEI), based in Accra, and working with seven local NGOs including
RAINS and Afrikids Ghana.
RAINS is implementing the project in 23
communities in the Nanumba South and Kpandai districts with an annual target of
575 marginalised girls and an overall total of 2,300 girls over the five-year
period.
Mrs Akumbisah lauded the STAGE project that
it would help to empower girls through school and advised residents, especially
parents, to desist from marrying off girls and rather support them to continue
with their education.
Mr Yaw Sarfo, the Nanumba South District
Director of Education, urged parents to invest in the education of girls to
help retain them in school.
Mr Dawuda Mohammed Hamisu, the Monitoring
and Evaluation Officer of RAINS, commended community members for participating
massively in the durbar, an indication of their support for the project.
Mrs Ragadahu Abdul Wahab, the Child
Protection and Safeguarding Officer at RAINS, said the organisation was working
closely with stakeholders including the Ghana Police Service to ensure the
protection of beneficiaries and other vulnerable adults.
Chief of Danayili, Danayili Naa Nyimba
Pronimor, thanked RAINS for implementing the intervention in the community and
expressed support for the success of the project.
He advised parents to encourage their
children to fully participate in it to reap its full benefits.
GNA
