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Female students have been advised to resist the influence of their peers and concentrate on their studies in order to realise their full potential and become responsible adults in the society. The Afadjato-South District Chief Executive, Ms Angela Alorwu-Tay, gave the advice when she addressed 100 female pupils at this year�s Volta Regional Girls� Vacation Camp at Have. The seven-day residential camp at the Rijnbeek Catholic School Complex was organised by the Girls� Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES), with sponsorship from Plan-Ghana Volta Programme Unit, for girls drawn from the Hohoe Municipality, Afadjato-South and South-Tongu districts. Theme for the camp The theme of the camp, �Empowering Girls Towards Improving Volta Region�s Performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and Building Potential for Leadership�, was against the backdrop of falling standards in the BECE in the last four years. Among other things, the programme is to improve the performance of girls in the BECE in the municipality and districts in the next three years. Ms Alorwu-Tay advised the girls to desist from indecent dressing under the pretext of modernity and civilisation. She was concerned that academic performance among some students was declining in an era when there is electricity to facilitate learning, which in the olden days was not available so pupils studied with lanterns and lamps. The Volta Regional Director of the GES, Mr Emmanuel Ketteku, said the vacation camp was meant to motivate the participants to strive for excellence to help change the trend of poor academic performance in the region. Programme to support girls The acting Volta Programme Unit Manager of Plan Ghana, Mr Edem Ametewee, disclosed that the organisation had designed programmes such as �Because I am a Girl� and �Learn Without Fear� to support girls� education, adding that there was also a scholarship scheme for girls. The Volta Regional Girls� Education Officer, Ms Christine Egbeadzor, noted that the camp was expected to enhance the self-esteem of girls, build their self-confidence and also sensitise them to the dangers of teenage pregnancy in schools, adding that the unit would monitor the performance of the participants and ensure that they share their experience with peers. In a welcome address, the Afadjato-South District Director of the GES, Ms Sitsofe Amegboe, opined that the vacation camp was timely in view of plans by the district directorate and the district assembly to bridge the gender gap, support gender empowerment and break barriers that had indirectly led to early marriages and forced girls to become house helps.