Female circumcision is on the rise in the Bawku municipality and its environs as parents are still carrying out the act secretly even though the practice has been outlawed.
Statistics by stakeholders including the Social Welfare, Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service indicate that children between the ages of one and 17 years go through the ordeal at Bawku and neighboring countries such as Burkina Faso, Togo or Niger.
About 30 per cent of girls living in the area who have been recruited for the circumcision have it done at Bawku or some neighboring countries.
Most of the girls, who go through the act, either become school dropouts or face psychological problem, because they must stay at home until the wound is healed, which takes many weeks.
Mrs. Lydia Issaka, Bawku Municipal Girl Child Education Officer, disclosed this at an advocacy forum organized by the Municipal Education directorate for stakeholders who included opinion leaders, traditional leaders, artisan groups and Parent Teacher Associations.
Mrs. Issaka noted that about 15 girls believed to have gone through the practice could not take part in the Basic Education Certificate Examination this year.
She explained that most girls are lured to neighboring countries by their parents or immediate relatives, where the circumcision was forcibly done.
She mentioned some communities that practice the circumcisions as Pusiga, Zong-Ntinga, Jentiga and Badoor.
She therefore urged the stakeholders to expedite action on finding an antidote to the menace as it was the major factor for the falling standards of education, especially among girls in the area.
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