Action Aid urges women to fight for their rights

The Policy Advisor on Education for Action Aid Ghana (AAG), Mrs. Dorothy Konadu, has challenged girls in the various schools, to rise against gender disparity and violence against women, rather than allowing only government and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to carry such responsibilities.

She has therefore called for the establishment or formation of Girls Clubs in the various schools, to enable the young girls become more assertive in fighting for their rights in the society.

Speaking at a forum organised by Action Aid Ghana for students from some selected schools in Tamale, Mrs. Dorothy Konadu expressed concern over the high prevalence of violence, and other forms of abuses in the Northern Region that were thwarting the efforts of women to climb to the highest level of the educational ladder.

Meanwhile, a report released by Action Aid Ghana in the second quarter of 2006, has it that about 86.6% of women have no basic education, and thus cannot read or write.

This alarming situation, according to Mrs.Konadu, had contributed greatly to the increase in gender imbalance, and poverty among women in the North.

She therefore called on the government, traditional and religious leaders to create equal opportunities for both men and women to empower themselves educationally.

The Action Aid Policy Advisor also called on the government to introduce what would encourage girl child and female adult education, and as well sustain them in school.

In an earlier address, Mr. Dauda Saani, a mentor of the Girls Club, said withdrawal of girls from schools into early marriages, and girl child fostering, were contributing to the high level of illiteracy among women.

He also called on the government and other stakeholders to introduce measures that would ensure girls retention in school.

It would be recalled that statistics by the Ministry of Education in 2004, on Gross Enrolment Rate, revealed that the Northern Region had 61.6% boys, while that of girls was 28.8%.

This huge disparity, according to Mr.Saani, was worrisome, and he therefore made a clarion call on all teachers heading the various school clubs in the Nanumba District, and Northern Region as a whole, to sensitise parents on the need to prioritise the education of their female children, rather than forcing them into early marriages.

Ms. Adam Rubayna, a member of the girls club, also called on the Northern Regional Minister, Mr.Sumani Nayina, to support the project and institute specific measures to address violence against girls in school.

She also appealed to the Nanumba District Directorate of Education, to post more female teachers into the district, and all the 13 schools of the project, to serve as role models to the girls.