By Eunice Hilda Ampomah, GNA
Accra, Nov.13, GNA - Professor Uche Amazigo, a retired director of the African Programme for Onchocerciasis, has said the provision of absolute free education to pupils by States at the basic level reduce significantly the rate of adolescent pregnancies.
African states must, therefore, provide absolute free education for children, especially in deprived communities to revise the situation.
A study she spearheaded on the high level of illiteracy in the ‘Anambra State’, Nigeria, revealed that poverty played a key role in reducing the interest of children, especially girls in education.
She revealed the findings, on Tuesday, at a Symposium organised in Accra by the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana (UG) in partnership with the Takemi Program in International Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, on the topic, “The SDG Era: Health, Equity and Education”.
She said financial constraints made it impossible for girls to meet school requirements, such as books, uniforms, desks, daily meals, examination fees, maintenance and Parent Teacher Association levies.
Respondents of the study explained that ‘free tuition was not free education,’ hence the plea on the part of students and families for government to invest more into education to cater for all expenses because that would enrich the interest of girls in school, and deter them from engaging in premarital sex.
Another cause of high illiteracy rate in the State and the entire sub-region, according to the study, was the unintended neglect by state authorities, families and school authorities to encourage children to prioritise education.
Prof. Friday E. Okonofua, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo State, Nigeria, buttressing how poverty served as a hindrance to education among children, said the menace was common on the continent.
It was time, he said, to discuss the solutions but not problems, which were already widely visible.
He urged African states and institutions to establish indigenous capacity building institutions and programmes to mentor adolescents to make informed decisions for their welfare.
Professor Albert K. Awedoba, Institute of African Studies, UG, making a presentation on a study conducted in the Kasena Community in the Upper East Region, said some members of the community perceived some diseases as that of women.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, especially HIV and gonorrhoea for instance, were tagged as a subset of diseases transmitted by women, he said.
To others, early sex led to stunted growth among girls.
He, therefore, urged the researchers and policy makers to redirect focus on rural communities to unearth the intentions and perceptions behind their attitudes towards women to be able to adopt better ways of controlling the diseases.
Madam Onyinye Onyemobi, the Programme Associate for Ford Foundation, West Africa, a hub that advocates social justice, said the core focus of African States should be on equitable distribution of natural resources to both gender parties.
To address issues of injustice against women and girls, she advised that the underlying causes and effects be addressed to reduce the violence meted to them.
“Women and girls should be the leaders of change to hold States accountable and advocate for the sanctioning of those who abuse them.”
GNA
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