Bono Minister lauds STU for 20% discount on fees of female students

The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, has lauded Sunyani Technical University for providing a 20% discount on school fees for all female engineering students as from the next academic year.

According to her, this will go a long way to increasing the number of female engineering students at the university and ultimately contribute to the growth and development of the country.

Last month, the Vice-Chancellor of Sunyani Technical University, Ing. Prof. Kwadwo Adinkrah-Appiah, announced that the university will be offering 20 per cent discount on school fees of all female engineering students, beginning from the next academic year.

Speaking at a students-staff durbar held at the University’s main auditorium, Ing. Prof. Adinkrah-Appiah explained that the move formed part of an affirmative action adopted by management to encourage more females to pursue various engineering courses.

He explained that because STU is a technical university, it usually struggles to get females to study engineering programmes hence the decision to give special consideration to prospective female engineering

Interacting with the media in Sunyani as part of this year’s International Women's Day, which fell on last Wednesday, March 8th, the Bono Regional Minister noted that STU deserves lots of commendation for taking such a bold step to further push the overall development of the girl-child forward.

She also lauded the efforts of other stakeholders who have contributed to women's emancipation and gender equality and also urged parents and families to educate their children right from an early age on human rights and respect for others’ opinions.

According to the Minister, Ghana has made significant progress with regard to improving women’s standard of living and quality of life.

Women empowerment
The Bono Regional Minister stated that the long advocacy for women's empowerment is never about setting Ghanaians against each other or trying to push some down to lift others up.

“It is an absolutely liberal value that you don’t push some people down to lift other people up. We want everybody to do better, and we want to see the rise of women in this country help to accelerate the development of the country to ensure that their overall place is maintained, which is good for both women and men.”

She believes that the advocacy for women’s advancement should not come at the expense of men nor pitching up girls against boys, saying: “much as we always want women to rise and play leading roles in society, they must not do so at the expense of others' progress.”

Justina Owusu Banahene reiterated that gender equality gives all sexes more freedom and choice at work, at home, and in their relationships.

The Bono Minister said women’s advancement is “not about conflict but it’s about recognising that girls and women deserve an equal stake in the economy and society.”

She said a change in mindset and behaviour is imperative to uphold gender equality and empower women’s equal participation in all spheres, for a fairer and more equitable society.

She noted that the NPP government is committed to addressing the most pressing barriers for women, issues such as increasing investment in gender equality, reaching parity for women at all levels of decision-making and disavowing and changing social norms that perpetuate discrimination and violence against women.