Upper East Regional Minister Commends Camfed for Bridging Gender Gap in Education

By Samuel Akapule, Bolgatanga

The Upper East Regional Minister, Ms Paulina Patience Abayage, has commended Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) for complementing the government's efforts in bridging the gender gap in education in the Northern parts of the country.

The minister made the commendation in a speech read for her during the graduation of CAMFED School Leavers and Induction Ceremony for beneficiaries from the Bongo District, held in Bolgatanga, the regional capital.

She stated that since the establishment of CAMFED in Ghana in 1998, the international NGO with funding from the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Programme had supported a lot of girls in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Central regions, to complete their Senior High Schools (SHS) and tertiary education.

She indicated that apart from majority of the beneficiaries of CAMFED programme gainfully employed and contributing their quota to national development, others had also become role models and changing society positively.

"I am fully aware that CAMA which is CAMFED Alumni and Peer Support Network is committed to supporting each of the beneficiaries of CAMFED to succeed in all endeavours of life," she stressed.

The minister admonished the 501 beneficiaries of CAMFED from the Bongo District who had just completed SHS to guard against actions and inactions that would hinder their progress in life.

"You must eschew all forms of vices such as drugs, prostitution, armed robbery and bad company that will lead you to doing things that will affect your progress and development," she warned.

The Bongo District Programme Coordinator of CAMFED, Mr Amoah Clement Agane, explained that CAMFED used education as a strategic tool for empowerment and to fight poverty, HIV/AIDS and deprivation.

He stated that about 5,747, CAMFED beneficiaries who were supported to complete their SHS in the last three years had been inducted as new CAMA members, also known as CAMFED Alumni.

Mr Anthony Awuka, a Senior Officer from the Bongo District Education Directorate, entreated the beneficiaries to aspire higher in the educational ladder to enable them to contribute positively to national development.

Mrs Vida Asibe, a teacher and mentor of the Bolgatanga Girls Senior High School called on the beneficiaries to resist the pressure from their parents to give them out for early marriage by reporting them to the appropriate quarters including the police and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) .

Ms Janet NmapikaAyamga, a level 300 student of the University of Health and Allied Sciences, who is also a beneficiary of CAMFED, narrated how she managed to make it in life in certain quarters and attributed that to the training and support she received from CAMFED.

Read Full Story