Ghana’s Development “inextricably tied to girl-child education”: Catholic Educationist

Accra, 23 October, 2019 / 11:08 PM

Despite significant strides by the West African nation of Ghana in realizing Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that governs the right to education for everyone, the universal education of girls remains a challenge, a Catholic educationist has said and encouraged literacy for the girl child as a way of guaranteeing national development.

“The development of this country is inextricably tied to the education of the girl child,” the National Director of Girls’ Education Unit in the Ghana Education Service (GES), Benediicta Tenni Seidu said during the 10th Anniversary of St. Catherine Girls’ Senior High School in the Volta Region of Ghana. 

“Though the situation has improved today than years ago and more parents are now educating their girls, there still exist some levels of prejudice against the education of girls,” the GES official said. 

Speaking to ACI Africa correspondent in Ghana, the Catholic educationist said that “the best form of economic independence and empowerment” can only be achieved in the former British colony through educating the girl child as there is a “correlation between education and productivity.” 

According to a 2017 UNESCO report on Ghana, female enrollment in tertiary education stands at 13.53% while that of their male counterparts is at 18.68%.

Poverty, early marriages, sexual harassment and menstrual cycle are some of the factors that The Borgen Project has reported as hindrances to the education of girls in the West African country. 

Seidu, the Catholic educationist, reminded education stakeholders in Ghana that denying girls a chance to be educated will only increase some social challenges saying, “If you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.” 

“This (education) is one effective tool of fighting social challenges – teenage pregnancy, child marriage, prostitution, child labour and the abuse of drugs,” she said and added, “Through education, our girls will be able to acquire knowledge and skills, be well informed of their rights and responsibilities in society.”

St. Catherine Girls’ Senior High School, the first Catholic girls’ school in Agbakope-Volta Region, within the Diocese of Keta-Akatsi, was founded in 2009 by Bishop Anthony Kwame Adanuty, Emeritus Bishop of the Diocese.

The Headmistress of the school, Hellen Abla Avevor has commended the Catholic Church for its contribution to girls’ education through the establishment of numerous girls’ institutions across the country and called on stakeholders to prioritize the education of girls in Ghana.

The year-long celebration that started in October 2018 was guided by the theme, “Educating the Girl Child: An Asset to Nation Building.”