The Sagnarigu Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Education (GES) has constituted and trained a Municipal advocacy task force to embark on back to school campaign in the Municipality.

The campaign, through the Girls Education Unit (GEU), is a GES initiative to ensure all pre-tertiary school children, especially girls, whether pregnant or breastfeeding babies, returned to the classrooms when schools resume full session in January 2021.

It forms part of government plans to ensure that girls who are either pregnant or nursing babies have the opportunity to continue their education to realise their full potentials.

The two-day capacity building workshop was to equip members of the task force with the GES set-out guidelines on persuading children, particularly girls, to return to school after restriction on schools’ closure was lifted.

The 30-member task force was made up of stakeholders from the GES, Human Rights Institutions, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), religious and traditional authorities, among other groups.

They are expected to sensitise parents and guardians as well as the children on the GES back to school guidelines and to ensure every child of school-going age, especially girls returned to school.

Madam Linda Amoah, Northern Regional Girls Education Officer, who facilitated the workshop, said with the COVID-19 outbreak and its effects on schools, children, especially girls, might drop out when schools were reopened.

She said it was important to put in place measures and interventions to encourage the children to go back to school.

“As a result of the long break, we are anticipating that more children, particularly girls, would not want to go back to school either as a result of teenage pregnancies or because they have babies, and so we are rolling out this initiative to ensure every child is not left behind when schools reopen,” she said.

She explained that the support from parents and guardians in getting the children back to school was crucial, and encouraged members of the task force to perform their duties diligently to achieve the targeted results.

Madam Rosina Zenabu Abdul-Rahaman, Sagnarigu Municipal Girl Child Education Coordinator, noted that the COVID-19 hurt some girls and that the situation posed threats to a huge number of dropouts in the next academic year.

She said as part of the campaign, there would be guidance and counseling services for girls who would return with pregnancies or babies to inculcate self-esteem and confidence in them to protect them from stigmatisation.