NAPO leads 'Girl Child' education crusade

Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Vice-Presidential candidate of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), is championing ‘Girl Child Education’, urging the citizenry to play valuable roles in helping girls climb high on the academic ladder.

According to Prempeh, also known as ‘Napo’, who is a former Minister of Education, girls should be inspired and given all the needed support and encouragement to attain higher academic laurels, thereby boosting their future prospects.

“May we be encouraged to inspire our young girls to take their education seriously, by giving them the opportunities and space to make informed choices and achieve their maximum potential as future leaders of our country,” he wrote.

In a Facebook post to mark this year's ‘International Girl Child Day’, under the theme ‘Girl’s Vision for the Future’, he emphasized the important roles that women play in national development, stressing that girl child education should always be the utmost priority of the state.

The NPP Vice Presidential Candidate said this year’s International Girl Child Day theme “resonates deeply with Alhaji Dr. Bawumia’s vision of both the need for urgent action and persistent hope, driven by the power of girls’ voices and vision for the future.”

Napo, who is known for his passion for girl child education, said the famous Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey was right when he said, “If you educate a man, you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation.”

In this regard, he commended President Akufo-Addo’s NPP government for contributing significantly to improving the enrollment of girls from basic to Senior High Schools (SHS) since assuming political office eight years ago.

“On International Girl Child Day, I reflect on the strides we have made as a nation for the education of the girl child, particularly under the administration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,” he wrote.

Napo also added, “Over the years, enrollment of both boys and girls in our basic schools has generally been at par, and we have achieved a fair measure of gender parity at that level.

“Under this government’s Free Senior High School programme, we have been able to leapfrog access to bring the enrollment of girls to be at par with boys’ enrollment at the senior high school level. This is a significant development for our nation.”