Mrs. Latifa Siddique Abobo, Acting Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Children, has stated that Ghana deserves to be praised for many of its achievements in education.

She said since 2005, the abolition of school fees and the provision of assistance to schools through the capitation grant have had a great impact on boosting school enrolment and narrowing the gender gap between girls and boys in schools.

Mrs. Abobo, who stated this during the regional celebration of the African Union (AU) Day of the African Child, said despite those gains, a significant number of children are still not benefiting from basic education.

She said the situation in the Upper West Region is worse, as many children are still out of school.

The Acting Regional Director of the Department of Children noted that universal quality education is a global concern reflected in numerous global agreements and investment plans and that if those objectives are achieved, children will have a wonderful world to live in.

Mr. Eric Ayaba, Plan Ghana Upper West Programme Unit Manager, noted that throughout the world, there are about 57 million children school drop-outs, with majority of them being girls.

He said four out of five children in Africa are out of school, out of which girls are again the majority; parents needed to be educated on the needs to invest their resources in their children’s education.

Mr Ayaba bemoaned the negative impact of some socio-cultural practices, such as discrimination against the girl-child and children with disabilities, in the area of education.

He said Plan Ghana is championing a 10-day investment campaign to get stakeholders to commit to investing in children.

Madam Bella Kanmwaa, Ghana Education Service (GES) officer in charge of Early Childhood Education/Special Education, said education helps children to become critical of issues, and also understand better the environment in which they live in, so they can make positive decisions and choices.

She called for an improvement in education environment and facilities to make them conducive and child-friendly for children, to promote learning among school children.

This year’s AU Day of the African Child is on the theme: “A Child Friendly, Quality, Free and Compulsory Education for all Children in Africa.”

The objectives are to emphasize the importance of a child-friendly approach to fulfilling the right to education for all children in Ghana, and to draw attention on the importance of Early Childhood Care and Development on education.

It is also to ensure access to education for particular groups of children, such as disabled and vulnerable ones.