A STAR-Ghana Foundation forum on “Promoting Girls’ Education in Ghana” has called on all stakeholders to help promote access to education for all, particularly girls.
The participants were of the view that improving access to education for girls was a shared responsibility, adding that government alone cannot provide access to quality education for all.
There was therefore a call for increased collaboration among CSOs, and partnership between CSOS and government.
Speaking at the event, the Director of the Girls’ Education Unit at the Ministry of Education, Gifty Asiedu, said although government is doing its part; appointment of girls’ education officers in the regions, districts, in schools, and in some cases, men taking up the role, girls still have issues and need support.
“It is so huge that government cannot carry this burden alone. We need to deliberate on ways to give vulnerable girls the opportunity to access education. Girls need to be given opportunities, and helped,” she said.
Gifty Asiedu, Director, Girls Education Unit
The Head of Programmes at STAR-Ghana Foundation, Eunice Racheal Agbenyadzi, corroborated there are real challenges with girls’ education that need to be addressed.
She said it is a difficult task that government alone cannot address.
“It needs the support of civil society which is at the fore front in the communities - supporting girls, empowering them, and engaging with communities to reengineer social practices that are supportive of girls’ development. There are other CSOs that are building on research to inform the government on policy issues, and so we need to collaborate so government can consolidate results in this area of work”.
“Until we have addressed the challenges that confronts girls’ education, we cannot stop talking about them because unlike boys they have many challenges,” she said.
Eunice R. Agbenyadzi, Head of Programmes, STAR-Ghana Foundation
She noted Ghana has made strides in improving access to education for girls by achieving gender parity in enrollment for girls at primary and secondary school level and have dedicated policies to tackle notable barriers to girls’ education.
These policies, she outlined include the Re-entry Policy for Girls which has been instrumental in helping student mothers to return to school, and enabling pregnant girls stay in school.
“At the same time there are barriers confronting girls staying and completing school. The intersection of gender and poverty especially for girls outside urban areas amplify their exclusion from accessing and benefiting from education.
“Continuous discussion around promoting girls’ education is important, critical and relevant,” she said.
Thus, she said the forum was organized to dialogue on strengthening effectiveness of strategies in promoting girls’ education.
Some participants in the forum
The forum
The forum, held on March 7, 2023, and under the theme “Increasing Inclusive Access to Quality Education for Girls” sought to build consensus among stakeholders and renew commitment towards collaborations on strategies to secure girls’ continuous access to quality education.
It was organised by STAR-Ghana Foundation and partners under the Gender Rights and Empowerment Programme (G-REP) with funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK government.
The FCDO on G-REP seeks to contribute to increasing girls education, promoting women’s voices, political participation and addressing issues of violence and abuse against women and girls.
Some participants in the forum
Need for girls’ empowerment
The Governance Advisor at the FCDO, Clara Osei-Boateng, said girls’ education is the simple solution to many of the problems women face in their adulthood.
While not discounting the efforts by Ghana in achieving gender parity in enrollment in basic schools, she said many girls continue to face challenges (sexual harassment, discrimination, teenage pregnancy, domestic violence), which affect their retention in schools and completion.
She emphasized education will help girls escape some of the challenges they would have faced in future.
Clara Osei-Boateng, Governance Advisor at FCDO
“When girls are empowered and grow into adulthood, they can secure jobs. When you are economically empowered you can take decisions and control of your life in many aspects. So, it is important that we collectively focus on these issues. Ghana making a lot of progress but there is still room for improvement,” she said.
She acknowledged efforts by STAR-Ghana Foundation and its partners to promote girls’ education while addressing their sexual reproductive health rights.
“We do acknowledge the good work you are doing. As we come to the end of our financial year, women and girls remain one of our priority areas and we do hope we will be able to continue this partnership at some level to ensure that efforts that have begun will continue to yield good results,” she said.
Investment in education
The Chair of the Governing Council of STAR-Ghana Foundation, Dr Esther Ofei Aboagye, said there is no better investment a nation can make than an investment in quality education.
“Education has really taught us that investing in girls’ education is a smart thing to do. We want people who are informed, engaged, and are passionate about their lives and destinies to be part of the governance structure and for us, education its critical to achieving that,” she said.
Fact sheet
Strategies for promoting girls’ education in Ghana
- The barriers have not changed; they have increased e.g COVID-19
- Actors have not changed; there is the need to expand the nature, scope, and engagement of actors in the space
-Girls have a responsibility too
- Financing and coordination matter