Girls camp at Cape Coast
Organisers of girls mentoring camps have been urged to include girls with disabilities in such programmes to help build their confidence.
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The call was contained in an address read on behalf of the Headmistress of the Cape Coast School for the Deaf, Mrs Barbara Ennin, at the opening of a Life Skills Development Camp for 113 girls at the school.
The girls are from rural communities in three regions (the Upper West, Central and Volta regions) and would be taken through basic rights, responsibilities and hygiene. They will also tour places of interest.
The girls are also expected to enhance their knowledge on their rights, which is expected to help build their self-confidence and make them assertive.
The mentoring camp is being organised by Plan Ghana’s Promoting African Grassroots Economic Security through Education and Skills (PAGES) project in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service, with sponsorship from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Mrs Ennin said it was unfortunate that out of the 113 girls chosen for the camp, no girl with disability was included. She called on stakeholders to consider mentoring camps for girls with disabilities to boost their confidence and help them face life, adding that “girls with disabilities also have a lot to offer society.”
The Country Director of Plan Ghana, Prem Shukla, said the camp was to help the girls understand the value of education and encourage them to stay in school and aspire to higher levels of education.
The Director of Girls Education Unit at the GES, Mrs Matilda Bannerman-Mensah, stated that there was no tool for development more effective than the education of girls, adding that if girls were not empowered they would not be able to fully participate in the nation’s development process.
She called for more support for the mentoring of girls.
Story: Shirley Asiedu-Addo
