October 11, 2013: More girls are in school in Ghana today than ever

before, but the country’s work in educating girls remains unfinished, according to the United

Nations.

 

The United Nations in Ghana is therefore using the International Day of the Girl Child to call

attention to the need to increase access to education – especially secondary education – to all

girls. There is overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a

powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves: it is the one consistent

positive determinant of practically every desired development outcome: from reductions in

mortality and fertility, poverty reduction and equitable growth, to social norm change and

democratization.

 

Ghana has been a role model for many African countries in the provision of free basic

education, with gender parity rates amongst the highest in the West and Central African region,

shared the UN Resident Coordinator, Ruby Sandhu-Rojon. “However, there are still regional

inequities in girls’ education. Girls from the poorest households in the Northern Region are

nearly three times more likely to be out of school compared with the national average. Fewer

than 45% of girls attend secondary school in Ghana.”

 

This year’s theme, innovating for Girls’ Education, urges everybody to find creative, effective

and efficient solutions to involve more girls in the classroom. For instance, in Ghana, the UN

works with the Ghana Education Service to provide incentives to girls in higher grades to attend

school, mobilize secondary school scholarships for brilliant girls’ from deprived homes, use

sports to attract girls to school and create Girls Clubs to encourage girls and their peers to stay

in school. In some schools, sanitary pads are now kept in first aid boxes for girls to access when

the need arises in school – meaning they can attend school throughout the month.

“Much progress in getting girls into primary school has been made, but our work in educating

girls remains unfinished particularly for the poorest and most disadvantaged girls. We need

renewed commitment and innovative solutions. Business as usual is not enough.” Said Ms.

Susan Namondo Ngongi , UNICEF Country Representative.

 

The UNFPA Representative in Ghana Dr. Bernard Coquelin said adolescent girls in primary and

secondary school who are at high risk of dropping out of school due to early marriage and

teenage pregnancy need a special focus for Ghana’s demographic dividend to materialize.

 

“An educated girl has better opportunities, as she is more likely to get a job and earn a higher

wage, and her nation’s economy is likely to benefit as a result,” said Pippa Bradford, WFP

Ghana Representative/Country Director.

 

Educated young women have smaller families and healthier children. They are less likely to

marry young or die in childbirth, more likely to send their children to school, and better able to

protect themselves and their children from malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, and sexual

exploitation. An educated girl has better opportunities, as she is more likely to get a job and

earn a higher wage, and her nation’s economy is likely to benefit as a result. An extra year of

primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 per cent and an extra year of secondary

school by 15 to 25 per cent. One percentage point increase in female education raises the

average level of GDP by 0.3 percentage points.

 

Finally, on this important occasion, recognizing the need for fresh and creative perspectives to

propel girls’ education forward, the UN calls for innovation in partnerships, policies, resource

utilization, community mobilization, and most of all, the engagement of young people

themselves.

 

Media contact:

Doris Mawuse Aglobitse

UNFPA Ghana / Email: aglobitse @unfpa.org

 

Cynthia Prah

National Information Officer

UN Information Centre, Accra | tel. +233 28 5100 313| email: Cynthia.prah@unic.org