The Deputy Director of the British Department for International Development in Ghana (DFID-Ghana), Ms. Charlotte Pierce, has pledged the commitment of DFID to working with the Government of Ghana to give all young people the opportunity of good quality education.
Ms. Pierce said DFID was currently helping 120,000 girls, who had dropped out of school in Ghana, to return to primary school and over 80,000 disadvantaged girls to complete their secondary education.
She disclosed that in pursuit of its goal of helping more young people, particularly girls, to be in school, the British Government launched a programme dubbed ‘The Girls Education Challenge’ under which one million girls across the globe are to go to school and learn.
Ms. Pierce was speaking at the launch of Ghana’s first interactive distance-learning project —Making Ghanaian Girls Great! (MGCubed) — at Prampram in the Greater Accra region, yesterday.
Ms. Pierce said MGCubed was receiving funding under the (DFID)’s Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) programme to help it address the challenges of teacher quality, teacher absenteeism and poor student learning by equipping two classrooms in every school with solar-powered computers and projectors through which real-time, two-way interactive distance lessons could occur.
She urged all stakeholders including parents, head teachers, district, community and traditional leaders, school children and the staff of project implementation and partner organisations to work together and play their respective roles for the success of the project.
In an address, Dr. Gordon Carver, MGCubbed Project Director, said the project was an attempt to use technology to achieve certain simple educational goals of attracting girls and boys to come to a classroom and learn relevant material through engaging activities, guided by a well-trained teacher.
Dr. Carver stressed the need for partnership and collaboration among stakeholders to make the project a success.
Welcoming the audience to the launch, Hon. Sarhack Nartey, a representative of the District Assemby, described the project as well-targeted and well-intended.
Hon. Nartey, therefore, appealed to all stakeholders to ensure that the project was successfully implemented in order to improve the standard of living of the girl-child.
He urged the directors of the project to work diligently to overcome the challenge of internet inaccessibility.
The District Chief Executive for Ada West, Hon. Anthony Klokpah, noted that since the end of the Beijing Conference on Women in China, Women were beginning to assume their rightful positions in society.
Hon. Klokpah reiterated the need for all stakeholders to give the project their maximum support and to motivate the teachers.
The Director of Education, Shai Osudoku District, Ms Freda Koasi, challenged the facilitators to ensure that the children derived maximum benefit from the project.
In her remarks, the Chairperson for the occasion, Nana Ogyedom Tsetsewa l, advised all girls to pursue education to the highest level to improve their lives and transform their future.
Present at the launch ceremony were several members of the local community such as District Chief Executives and Directors of Education.
It was the second of the regional launches, the first of which took place last week at Breweniase in the Volta Region.
The primary objective of MGCubed—a pilot project which will be implemented in 72 schools in the two regions until March 2016—is to improve access for young girls in deprived communities, empower them, raise their self-esteem and enable them to catch up on lost learning and to stay in school.
The project will be delivered in six districts, namely Nkwanta South and Kadjebi in the Volta region, and Ada East, Ada West, Ningo-Prampram and Shai Osudoku in the Greater Accra region.
In all, over the two-year project period, a total of 8,000 girls and boys, including over 4,000 marginalised girls (aged 9-14 years) will be taught basic numeracy and literacy, and receive enhanced quality education to improve their lives and transform their future.
It is being implemented by the GEMS Education Solutions—the specialist education consultancy division of GEMS Education—alongside key partners like Aleutia, Everonn, Gem Technologies and an independent evaluator, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA).
GEMS Education Solutions works with public and private clients to transform the quality of global education and skills provision, and its services are built on the educational heritage that GEMS has been developing for more than 50 years.
From this foundation, the organisation uses its expertise and insight to deliver leadership and management solutions, school improvement, skills partnerships and education reform.
Everything done by GEMS Education Solutions is focused on making a tangible difference in the lives of learners, communities and nations, enabling students of all ages to be prepared to succeed in an increasingly competitive world.
Source: ISD (G.D. Zaney)
