We cannot afford to fail this generation of girls
May was an extremely busy month for CAMFED Ghana. 5,733 secondary school leavers were inducted into the CAMA alumnae network, and we launched a Transitions Program for graduates in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation.
A research seminar and Learning Summit organised by CAMFED under the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program brought together Scholars with government, educational institutions and Civil Society Organisations to ensure that research and learning is shared to benefit the most marginalized youth.
The government alone cannot solve all the challenges militating against quality education delivery. We need partners. Together, we can make Ghana a better place for the generations to come. We cannot afford to fail them.
Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister for Education, Ghana
The message, says Dolores Dickson, Regional Executive Director, CAMFED West Africa, is clear: “It’s all about building strong, multi-sectoral partnerships to ensure that those most marginalized – girls and young women – won’t be left behind. We must share data and learning, so this can be enshrined in policies that work to keep girls in school and prepare students for employment and entrepreneurship after school.” Dolores points out that, in the face of a youth jobless rate in Ghana of about 48%, the transition from secondary school represents a particularly challenging period in the lives of young people from impoverished communities.
Supported through the extension of CAMFED Ghana’s partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, CAMFED has been conducting and sharing research on the support systems and programs affecting students’ transition through school and into secure livelihoods. A new Transitions Programme, launched under the partnership, will equip 5,500 young women to make the transition from secondary education into entrepreneurship, employment, further study and leadership in their communities.
In his keynote address at the Annual Learning Summit organised by CAMFED in Accra, Ghana’s Minister for Education, Dr Prempeh, underscored the importance of partnerships in addressing the “scar on our collective conscience that most of our young people do not have Senior High School education or entrepreneurial skills.”
Ghana’s Minister for Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, speaking at the Annual Learning Summit organized by CAMFED Ghana in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation
Dolores Dickson highlighted the particular returns on investment in female education: “When girls are given the chance to finish school and succeed after school, they invest back in their families, paying for healthcare and other siblings to go to school. It benefits all of us, and it takes all of us to make it happen.”
A selection of recent articles in the national press:
CAMFED inducts 5,733 secondary school leavers into network
CAMFED organises training programme for young girls
CAMFED Ghana organises research seminar under the MasterCard Foundation Scholar Programme