District Assemblies Urged To Promote Girl-Child Education

Mrs Vida Odoom, a retired Director of Education has called on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to put policies and bye-laws in place that will promote girl child education and reduce teenage pregnancy. She has also suggested to the Assemblies to move fast to build consensus with the churches and Traditional rulers and opinion leaders in their efforts at finding lasting solution to the problem, especially in schools. Speaking to the press at Gomoa Afransi in reaction to the high rate of pregnancy among girls in the BECE in the district, Mrs Odoom described the situation as unacceptable in the Central Region. Mrs Odoom who is also the Director of Gyanwa Foundation Educational Complex urged the Assemblies to liaise with the Department of Social Welfare, National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Women Organizations, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and other relevant agencies to lead the crusade against teenage pregnancy in schools. She said the situation is becoming so alarming for the Assemblies alone to handle it, adding that it needs a collective responsibility of social groups to promote girl-child education in the country. The former Director appealed to parents to place the education of their children above their social responsibilities and said that it is sometimes sad to note that a parent, who has not paid a child�s school fees, can get money to purchase expensive funeral cloths and other items. In another Development, Reverend Ernest Appiah, in charge of the Gomoa Aboso Circuit of AME Zion Church, expressed concern about the lack of good parental care in the area resulting in most school girls getting pregnant. Rev. Appiah appealed to the traditional rulers and other stakeholders in education to work hard to improve the girl-child education. On sanitation, Rev Appiah called on the Ghanaians to change their attitudes towards indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the gutters and other public places.