Tamale, Dec. 11, GNA - A girls' club called the Nanumba Stop Violence Against Girls, has called for some interventions by government and stakeholders to overcome some of the challenges confronting girls in school. This includes more female teachers in the Nunumba District to serve as role models and mentors to inspire them for more laurels in life. The girls' demand, which was read by Adam Rubaihatu, a JHS 1 student of EP Demonstration School in Nanumba, said in spite of the numerous attempts by government to achieve universal primary education for all by 2015, there are still significant gender disparities in access to basic education in the Northern Region.

They said there was the need for government to step up more efforts to achieve the target. The student girls made these demands in Tamale on Thursday when Songtaba, in collaboration with ActionAid Ghana, organized a media encounter with the girls to share some of their challenges in accessing education opportunities.

Songtaba, in collaboration with ActionAid Ghana, in 2008 launched a five-year project dubbed 'stop violence against girls in school' with funding from the Big Lottery Fund of UK. The girls said inadequate female teachers in schools affected their academic performances because they lacked role models and mentors to empower them. They appealed to Teacher Training Colleges to consciously use favourable admission quota for prospective female students to increase the intake of female students. The girls added that district assemblies should sponsor more girls into teacher training colleges.

The government and the Ghana Education Service (GES) should also provide enough resources and incentives in schools at all deprive areas to attract female teachers to accept postings to those areas. The National Programme Manager of Stop Violence Against Girls in School (SVAGS), Madam Gifty Baka, said violence against girls in schools constituted a major challenge to girls' school enrolment, retention and educational performance.

She said the project, which is on a pilot basis, was aimed at protecting girl's rights to education by promoting a violence-free school environment and improving girls' achievement levels in schools. Madam Baka said SVAGS, which operates in 13 communities and schools in Nanumba North and Nanumba South districts, is combining research, advocacy and community-level initiatives to improve girl's access to education.