CAMFED sponsors education of over 500 students in Ekumfi
Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that supports girls’ education and women empowerment is currently sponsoring the education of 520 brilliant but needy females in the Ekumfi District in the Central Region.
In all 380 basic schools and 140 Senior High School (SHS) are currently benefitting from the sponsorship package.
CAMFED, which operates in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Central Regions, is currently providing full scholarships to 16,000 girls in 720 schools in 30 districts across the country, with funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
This was made known on Friday at the inauguration of a nine –Member District Education Committee (DEC) for the Ekumfi District assembly at Ekumfi.
Mrs. Dolores Dickson, Executive Director of CAMFED, Ghana, said the aim of CAMFED is to create a world in which every child would be educated, protected, respected and valued and turn away the tide of poverty.
According to her, CAMFED’s bursary programmes comprises the payment of needy girls’ school fees, provision of uniforms, footwear and stationary to ensure that they are not denied the right to education because of poverty.
She noted that in educating children, particularly the girl child, the cycle of poverty in families, communities and the country could be broken and that educated girls earn 25 percent more and reinvent 90 percent of their income back into their families.
She said CAMFED also ensures that those who have benefited from their programmes are provided with leadership, entrepreneurial and life skills to become change leaders in their communities.
Mrs. Dickson urged the DEC member to exhibit utmost transparency and accountability in the selection process as any abuse of their positions would result in mistrust from CAMFED and the people of Ekumfi, which would lead to the withdrawal of the programme from the district.
In a speech read for him, Mr. Emmanuel Baisie, District Coordinating Director, noted that it is the resolve of the Assembly to improve upon education in the District and that it had also instituted a scholarship scheme to support needy but brilliant students in the district.
He believed this would go a long way to augment CAMFED’s programme and improve upon the level of education and human resource in the district and that more girls who hitherto, would not have been enrolled in school are now in school.
He said the Assembly was also constructing classroom blocks and teachers quarters to improve the access and quality of education in the area.
Mr Baisie congratulated the DEC members and urged all stakeholders to play their roles diligently to ensure that education in the district is improved.
Source: GNA