ACCRA GIRLS

THE Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr Samuel Bannerman-Mensah, has said the key to the rapid socio-economic development of the country lies in the full education of the girl-child.
Citing data from 100 countries, he said no country could compete favourably in the global economy without a well- educated women population and urged policy makers and parents who already knew that to help spread the message that women had a crucial role to play in our national development.
He was speaking at the annual speech and prize-giving day of the Accra Girls’ Senior High School at the weekend. It was on the theme, "Girls education, a key to national development."
Mr Bannerman-Mensah said that better educated women were, the more likely they were, in comparison with their peers, to delay marriage and child bearing, have stronger decision-making and negotiation skills, as well as higher self esteem and avoid commercial sex.
He asserted that studies documenting the benefits of female education mentioned reduced infant and maternal mortality, enhanced family health and welfare and increased economic productivity.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah said in recognition of the indispensable contribution of women to national development, the GES had a unit responsible for girl-child education.
He said given the same opportunity of access to education, boys always outnumbered girls as they passed through primary school to JHS, saying that by the time they reached SHS, more girls would have dropped out.
He noted that for most girls, poverty, poor attitude of parents and community members, particularly those who held the conservative notion that ‘the place of the woman is the kitchen’ affected access to school and education.
He explained that there had been instances when girls had excelled and outclassed boys and added that in 2008 the best West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) candidate and runner-up were both girls.
Mr Bannerman-Mensah cited some renowned women such as the late Dr Mrs Esther Ocloo who started the Nkulenu Industries in 1942 and whose passion for assisting indigenous female industrialists of Africa won her international affection and participation in the first United Nations (UN) conference in Mexico in 1975.
He said another renowned woman, Mrs Leticia Osafo-Addo, was the first to think of the commercialisation of 'shito" (hot pepper sauce) in Ghana.
He said education was generally a key factor in promoting social well-being and poverty reduction because it directly affected national productivity, which in turn determined living standards and a country's ability to compete in the global economy.
He said investment in education was vital because it promoted the achievement of six of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that is, reducing poverty, achieving universal primary education, improving gender equality, reducing infant and child mortality, improving maternal health and lowering the prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
He charged the girls to take advantage of opportunities to develop themselves and exhibit their endowed potential for their own good and that of the society as a whole.
The Headmistress of the school, Ms Veronica Akapame, said currently the student population stood at 1,005, with about 670 in the boarding house and the rest as day students.
She said due to the high population, the school faced some problems such as accommodation and insufficient water supply.
She said the inadequate dormitory facility had been made worse since the inception of the computerised school selection and placement system.
The headmistress said a small part of the administration block had been used for a school library which could hardly take 40 students.
According to the headmistress, there had been particularly gratifying improvement in science results, with particular reference to Biology and Physics.
She, therefore, encouraged the students to take their lessons seriously in order to make good grades and become responsible women in the future.
About 40 students were rewarded for good academic performance, while two past students were rewarded for excelling in the 2008 WASSCE.