Bunkpurugu (N/R), Jan 3, GNA - Girls education in the Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo District is under threat because some parents in the Konkomba communities are betrothing their girls in junior secondary schools to men and also replace girls with boys at the primary level. Girls' enrolment at the lower primary is always high and dropout rate at the junior secondary school level is equally high due to the practice.

Madam Christina B. Tampie, Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo District Education Director, revealed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Bunkpurugu. "This practice does not only deny girls the needed education to unearth their talents but also jeopardises their lives in the long run, making them social misfits," she said. She said her outfit was collaborating with the district assembly, traditional rulers, religious organisations, school management committees and the parent/teacher associations to address the problem.

Madam Tampie said UNICEF was also sponsoring a programme to sensitise the community members to stop the practice. She said apart from some cultural practices that threatened girls' education, poor academic performance at the basic and senior secondary school levels was also a source of worry and this had discouraged parents from sending their children to school. Another problem accounting for the poor academic performance was that school children spent much of their time on funeral celebrations to the detriment of their studies. Madam Tampie said the lack of basic social amenities such as a post office, radio and television station, electricity as well as inadequate potable water and poor road network were discouraging entrepreneurs from investing in the district. She appealed to the government, civil society organisations and citizens from the area to complement each other's efforts to develop the district.