Aburi (ER), March 27, GNA- A Professor at the Institute of African Studies of the University of Ghana, Dr Akosua Adomako Ampofo, has condemned a growing tendency by some Ghanaian parents coercing their young girls into early marriages.

He explained that such acts strike at the heart of efforts being made towards female emancipation.

She said when girls are pushed into early marriages at the expense of their education and skill development, it stifles their creativity and render them subservient to inimical societal norms without any opportunity for a breakthrough in their economic circumstances. Professor Ampofo therefore appealed to parents to rather concentrate on imbuing in their girls the virtues of discipline, godliness and knowledge so that when they are ripe for marriage, they would find more than enough suitors who would not create psychological problems for them.

She was speaking to a packed auditorium of both old and present students, staff and parents of the Aburi Girls' Secondary School at their 56th Speech and Prize-Day over the weekend at Aburi. According to Dr Ampofo, such marriages fostered on girls by their parents often "scar the girls for life".

What parents should do, she explained, was to assist their girls to acquire exemplary character traits and high integrity that would make them attractive to men.

She said there were no justifiable grounds for parents to demand that their wards terminate their education or skill training in favour of marriages especially when there is abundant evidence to suggest that in many instances where such practices were ensued, it led to creating emotional problems for the girls.

The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Sylvia Asempa, said fencing the school compound remained the biggest challenge facing the elite boarding institution, which is now ranked among the top ten best secondary schools in the country.

She therefore pleaded with the government to expedite action on releasing funds to complete the project. The occasion was also used to commission a 153-million cedi incinerator for the school funded by the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). 27 March 07