Regional News of Friday, 24 April 2015

Source: GNA

Girls appeal for support to overcome challenges

Some young girls in deprived communities in the Eastern Region have appealed for support to overcome challenges that impede their education and empowerment.

The support is also expected to reduce the cycle of poverty that pertains in their communities.

Some of the girls interviewed mentioned lack of parental support, financial constraints and stereotyping as the challenges that impede their progress in society.

Mrs Cynthia Anim, Regional Girl Child Education Co-ordinator, said all those challenges had been identified and measures had been put in place to address them adding that it was for such reasons that the girl child education unit existed.

She assured the girls that once they learnt hard and passed the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), no effort would be spared to ensure that they progressed to the senior high school level and beyond.

The camp was organised by Plan Ghana and the Girl-Child Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) at Oyoko, near Koforidua.

It was attended by 250 young girls selected from deprived communities in the Akuapem North and Upper Manya Krobo districts as part of a Plan Ghana and GES strategy to retain girls in school to reduce teenage pregnancies and school drop outs as a tool to empower girls from such communities.