NGO supports 500 girls in three districts in N/R

Tamale, Nov. 7, GNA - The Regional Advisory Information Systems (RAINS), a Tamale development oriented NGO, is supporting 500 girls in three districts of the Northern Region with educational materials to improve education in those areas. As part of the support, 50 girls who ply long distances to attend school are to receive bicycles while the remaining 450 girls would be given textbooks, exercise books, school uniforms, sandals and other teaching and learning aids.

Mrs. Christiana Yakubu, Project Officer at RAINS, announced the package at a ceremony in Tamale on Tuesday to present 50 bicycles to girls from the Gushegu, Karaga and the West Mamprusi districts. Forty bicycles would go to beneficiaries in Gushegu and Karaga while the remaining 10 would go beneficiaries in the West Mamprusi District.

Mrs. Yakubu said RAINS was collaborating with the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international NGO, to promote the education of girls in those districts.

She said RAINS had been promoting the welfare of both girls and boys but that this particular package skewed towards the girl-child because of the social barriers to girl-child education in the three districts.

Hajia Azara Telly, a Board Member of RAINS, presented the bicycles to representatives of the beneficiary girls. She said RAINS had given support to more than 6,000 girls since 2000 and gave the assurance the NGO would continue with its humanitarian services to ensure that education disparity between girls and boys was closed.

Madam Margaret Adisatu Haruna, Northern Regional Girl-Child Education Officer who received the bicycles on behalf of the beneficiary districts, expressed concern about low education rate of girls in the region and that the bicycles would boost their morale to stay in school.