News
Celebrating the rise of girl child education: A milestone in achieving gender equality
Girls face several challenges in accessing education
Over the past few decades, Ghana has made considerable progress in girls’ education.
There has been a significant societal shift in the value and priority given to girl child education, which is now seen as a fundamental right and a crucial element of a prosperous society.
The country is close to achieving gender parity in enrollment at the primary and secondary education levels.
Girls face several challenges in accessing education, including poverty, gender inequality, distance to school, child marriage, child labour, training, menstruation cycles at school, costs of education etc.
However, the relentless efforts of activists, educators, and policymakers have led to a remarkable transformation in girl child education.
One of the key improvements in girl child education is the rise in enrollment rates. As per the United Nations (UN), the global primary school enrollment rate for girls has increased from 73 per cent in 2000 to 83 per cent in 2018.
This achievement indicates that more girls now have access to basic education and the necessary skills to build a better future.
There has also been a substantial increase in the number of females attending secondary schools as compared to males. This change is a testament to the efforts of governments and organisations to ensure that girls receive high-quality education.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), along with other partners, is working to ensure that education professionals receive gender training and continue to address barriers to pave a clear way for girls in Ghana to make progress in basic education.
There are also attempts to reach girls at the Senior High School (SHS) with a focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and skill development.
UNICEF is also actively working on reforming school curriculums so that issues of equity, gender, and inclusion are adequately embedded in them.
Teachers are also being trained to demonstrate professional competence in gender issues and creating a teaching workforce that meets the needs of disadvantaged girls and boys.
In a recent interview with some young girls from the Osu Presbyterian School, they expressed gratitude for the opportunity to attend school.
One girl said, “I am happy to be given the freedom to go to school. I was told that back in the 90s, it was not like that, so if I can go to school today, I am happy.”
Another girl added, “I am happy to be in school so I can compete with the boys who think they control the world. Our mothers didn’t have the same opportunities we have today, so I am grateful for the chance to learn and grow.”
Research has shown that educating girls benefits not only the girls themselves but also their families, communities, and societies as a whole. Educated girls are more likely to marry later, have fewer children, and earn higher incomes, leading to improved health, economic growth, and social cohesion.
While there is still much work to be done to ensure that all girls have equal access to education, the progress made in recent years is truly remarkable.
As we continue to strive for gender equality and inclusive education systems, it is important to celebrate the achievements that have already been made and to continue pushing for a brighter future for all girls around the world.
.The author is a student of the University of Media Arts and Communication
Email: leahdegraft18@gmail.com
By Leah De-Graft Takyi
News
Swallowed by the Sea! …Keta’s coastal lines, landmarks, efforts to preserve heritage
The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a distant blue horizon for the people of Keta.
It now circles around their doorsteps, uninvited, unrelenting, pulling down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and threatening lives.
Hovering precariously between the restless sea and the Keta Lagoon, this once-thriving coastal town is slowly being obliterated.
Salt water has become both a physical and metaphorical threat, dissolving the town’s past as fast as it claims its future.
Madam Aku Atitso, 62, lives in a crumbling former Prisons Service quarters – one of the few structures still standing on the eroded stretch of Queen Street.
She sits quietly at the entrance, preparing a modest breakfast for herself and her granddaughter.
The air is thick with salt and silence. “The sea took everything,” she says softly. “My husband’s nets, our mattress, our memories all gone overnight.” Her voice trembles. “This place too is dying. But it’s the last place with a roof over my head.”
A few metres away, Aunty Esinam, 79, watches the sea from a low stool beside a wooden shelter. Her eyes do not blink. “That spot,” she points, “used to be someone’s living room, a whole family lived there”.
It’s not just homes that are vanishing. Landmarks that anchored Keta’s cultural identity are disappearing one after another. The once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, a haunting relic of the transatlantic slave trade is now more of a ruin than a monument.
the encroaching waters along Keta’s
coast.
encroaching waters along Keta’s coast
The colonial-era Bremen factory, the old cinema where generations of children once laughed at flickering black-and-white films is also gone.
Queen Street, once the town’s bustling backbone, is now a watery corridor choked with debris.
Standing atop a section of the sea defence wall, 69-year-old retired teacher Efo Kwasi Agbeko surveys what remains.
“The first police station is mostly gone,” he says, gesturing part of the building stuck in the sea sand, only ruins and a few rooms remain.
“This town is fighting, but the sea is winning,” he said.
Even the Cape St. Paul Lighthouse, Keta’s historic sentinel, leans perilously toward the water, and fishermen say holes in the shore are opening more frequently, sometimes every week.
That leaves a thick cloud of uncertainty hanging around the historic town of Keta.
Once upon a time, it was a vibrant town noted for business but currently left with ruins with a few of the residents watching in awe the sea’s devastation.
From: Geoffrey Kwame Buta, Keta, Volta Region
News
Ghanaians climax Easter with fun-filled activities
Christians around the world and other faith based groups last Monday climaxed the Easter celebration with a number of fun-filled outdoor and indoor activities.
With streets empty, fun seekers stormed church premises where picnics were held while others partied in many ways.
Others spent the day at the various beaches and music and film shows occupying the others.
velleyball competition
at the Laboma Beach
Church in Tema Community 8 engaged
in a number of activities including the
popular draught competition
At the churches, participants engaged in bible reading, football, volleyball, playing cards, table tennis, horse racing, bouncing castles, swimming and oware.
one of the picnic venues
Others played ludo, tag of war, lime and spoon, draught, music competitions among others.
The Spectator captured some of the exciting scenes around Accra-Tema for the benefit of readers.
Story & pictures by Victor A. Buxton
