By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA
Abrem Essiam (C/R), Jan. 9, GNA – More than
two thousand highly marginalised and out of school young girls in the Central
Region are expected to benefit from the Strategic Approaches to Girls’
Education (STAGE) project being implemented by the Ghana Red Cross Society.
STAGE is a four -year project aimed at
combining two mutually supportive tracks for highly marginalized girls to bring
a holistic approach to the education of girls and lower the barriers they face
in all sectors of the society.
Proposed by World Education Inc, the STAGE
project, under the “Leave No Girl Behind (LNGB)” window is being funded by the
UKaid’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC).
It specifically targets areas where high
levels of extreme poverty, in combination with deep-seated traditional and
social norms exist, resulting in negative impacts on women and the education of
girls.
With each cohort of beneficiaries, the
project would begin with a focus on literacy, numeracy, and life skills through
accelerated learning programs to get girls on track for transition into either
a formal education, a vocational learning opportunity, or some form of
employment.
Speaking at the launch of the project in the
Central Region on Tuesday, Mr John Ekow Aidoo, Regional Manager of the Ghana
Red Cross Society, said the project would establish relevant and appropriate
partnerships and pathways for the successful transition of the beneficiary
girls into responsible and self-reliant individuals.
He said beneficiary districts include
Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA), Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira, Gomoa West and
Ekumfi Districts adding that 500 girls would be selected from each district.
He said STAGE targets girls in areas that
are highly vulnerable and systematically marginalized due to factors such as
early marriage, pregnancies and disabilities amongst others others.
He said facilitators and master Craftsmen
would be trained in gender-sensitive inclusive strategies and provided with
curricula and supporting materials to meet the diverse needs of the girls.
The project will collaborate closely with
partners such as Non-Formal Education Division (NFED), Girls Education Unit and
Special Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to develop basic
training modules and teaching and learning materials to facilitate the adequate
provision of support to marginalized subgroups of girls, such as those with
disabilities.
The project would also simultaneously work
to sensitize communities and advocate at the national policy level to challenge
contextual barriers affecting the education of girls.
In this regard, he said, peer education
models involving adolescent girls with boys as allies would be established to
work with youth and adult male-led community sensitization campaigns to promote
positive behavior change and engage both the public and private sectors to
provide opportunities beyond the learning programs.
Mr Aidoo said enough measures have been put
in place to ensure the successful implementation of the project and urged the
beneficiary communities to own the project and offer the necessary support to
the girls.
Mrs Dora Ewusi, Safeguarding Officer of the
Ghana Red Cross Society, urged the beneficiary communities to help create a
conducive environment to enable the girls complete their courses with ease.
She expressed concern about the rising
reports of sexual and other forms of abuses against women and girls in the
society.
She said Red Cross as a downstream partner
of the STAGE project has put in place relevant safeguarding principles to
ensure that there is a conducive environment for learning.
Mr Noble Ebo Kinful, a Retired Educationist,
who chaired the function underscored the importance of vocational education and
urged the beneficiaries to carefully attend to the expectations of their
course.
GNA
