Lance Corporal Ophelia Bioh, a Police Officer at the Dambai Police Station has urged girls to give priority and attention to their education to enable them to attain greater heights in life.

She noted that, no matter where they came from, or what circumstances they were born into, they could always find freedom through education, and this would help them become resourceful citizens in the future.

Mrs Bioh gave the advice during a role model interaction session, as part of activities marking the 2018 edition of Girls Vacation Camp at Dambai, in the Krachi East District of the Volta Region.

The camp was held on the theme “Improving Girls’ Completion of Junior High School: The Role of Girls”.

She underscored the need for girls to refrain from engaging in sexual activities, since teenage pregnancy was among many factors that constituted barriers and inhibits their progress.

The initiative is being spearheaded by the Girls’ Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), under the Better Life for Girls (BLG) Project.

The BLG is a three year programme, which aims to provide adolescent girls in Ghana with knowledge, skills and an enabling environment to help them make informed decisions on issues affecting them and to reach their full potential.

The Girls Camp 2018, registered 180 girls from 36 schools in Krachi East; with the objective of addressing the challenges associated with retention of girls in school and to appreciate the importance of continuing their education to the highest possible levels.

Mrs Bioh sharing her life experience, noted that, she had many challenges but gathered courage and used that as a stepping stone to achieve her goals, as such, the young girls despite numerous challenges, should make good use of the few opportunities that comes their way.

She commended UNICEF, KOICA and the Girls Education Unit of the GES, for implementing an initiative that creates the platform for some basic grooming, life skills and entrepreneurship skills to be acquired.

A recent scoping study on barriers to JHS completion in Kpandai and Krachi East identified a number of challenges; some of which included poor school performance, lack of assertive skills, teenage pregnancy, lack of role models and inadequate learning materials.

The Northern and Volta Regions are the focus regions of the BLG programme, with several interventions implemented at the national Level.

All programme interventions converge in two districts: Kpandai (Northern Region) and Krachi East (Volta Region); to facilitate the identification of approaches, which can holistically support the empowerment of adolescent girls’ in Ghana.

The Concept of the Girls’ Vacation Camp also aims at assisting girls, especially those from disadvantaged communities to catch up with lessons, as they prepare to start their final year and eventually, write their exams.

In an another development, the Kpandai District also hosted the Girls Vacation Camp 2018; with activities including exposing the girls to hands-on skills, role model interaction sessions, talks on selected topical issues, and games to build on their communication skills and team work.