The Ashanti Regional Girls’ Education Officer, Nana Agnes Opoku Domfeh, has called for the nation to take deliberate steps to ensure that the school environment becomes more girl-child friendly.
She said everything should be done to aid them not only to enroll but retained in school and supported every step of the way as they climbed the academic ladder.
She added that this was the way to go to lift many women out of poverty and overcome other indignities.
Nana Domfeh was speaking at a day’s mentorship programme organized for over 2,000 girls from three selected senior high school (SHS) in the region at Bekwai - Oppong Memorial, Denyanseman, Wesley and Bekwai SDA.
The programme was put together by the Otumfuo Osei Tutu Charity Foundation and the goal was to help them to have self-belief.
They were taught how to set realistic dreams, explore job opportunities, career, time and financial management.
It was also forcefully brought home to them the need to refuse bad peer influence and to stay virtuous.
Nana Domfeh reminded parents of their responsibility to provide their daughters with all the basic needs and to spend quality time with the adolescent girl.
They should not use the excuse of work and economic pressures to deny the young ones of the attention and protection they deserved.
She indicated that the battle against poverty could be won through education and that was why more should be done to motivate girls to strive for higher education achievements.
Madam Sophia Awotwe, Board Member of the Foundation, said it was important to focus efforts on assisting girls to fully exploit their potentials to become socially, economically and politically empowered.
A lecturer at the Kumasi Polytechnic, Madam Araba Aidoo, asked the girl students not to under any circumstance accept to exchange sex for academic favours.
They must be prepared to work hard and make sacrifices to live their dreams, she added.
<<Print>>