Sandema (Upper East) 19 July '99

The Builsa district in the Upper East region has recorded an increase in the enrolment of girls as against boys in basic schools following special programmes designed by the district assembly and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to encourage girl-child education.

At the beginning of this academic year, the district recorded 1,211 female admissions into day care centres as compared to 1,171 for males while 6,121 girls were enrolled in primary schools as against 5,355 boys.

About 1,200 girls are currently attending the 22 junior secondary schools in the district while the figure for boys stands at a little over 9,000, the District Chief Executive, Mr Daniel A. Syme, has told Mr Kwabena Kyere, a Deputy Minister of Education, at Sandema .

Mr Kyere and Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), were on a working tour of the Upper East region.

Mr Syme said a programme - Child-Score - had been designed under a UNICEF-supported community-based development project aimed at strengthening the capacities of local people to mobilise their children to attend school.

Besides, the project has also provided a number of motorcycles, equipment and funding for the training of a district child-scope team to ensure the success of the programme.