Wednesday, 15th June, 2022

Page 6
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 15th June, 2022
The Planned Parenthood
Association of
Ghana (PPAG), a
Non Governmental
Organisation, has
reiterated calls on traditional
authorities to support efforts and
campaigns to end child marriage
and promote girl-child education
and empowerment.
Ms Fatima Ayamga, Field
Officer, PPAG, who made the
call noted that child marriage
continued to be inimical to the
growth and development of
young people particularly girls
and said the situation required
urgent collective efforts from
all stakeholders to address it
for accelerated sustainable
development.
“These teenagers are our
future and we cannot afford to
allow them to get married at
tender ages and start having
children. Their education would
be truncated and they will not
be prepared mentally for such a
task,” she stressed.
This, she called on all
traditional leaders including the
chiefs and queen mothers to join
the fight against the menace
by educating their subjects
on the adverse effects of child
marriage on the development
of the community and enforce
community regulations that
would deter people from
indulging in the practice.
Ms Ayamga was speaking at
Yorogo, a suburb of Bolgatanga
Municipality of the Upper East
Region on the re-launch of a
child marriage campaign dubbed,
“End Child Marriage” by PPAG.
It was part of the United
Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) project with funding
support from the Global Affairs
Canada, aimed at empowering
community stakeholders to help
Fight against child
marriage must be collective
– Traditional leaders told
end child marriage menace in the
Municipality.
Ms Ayamga noted that
the achievement of the
United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals remained
unrealistic when urgent action
was not taken to address teenage
pregnancy and child marriage
among children.
She advised parents against
pushing their teenage pregnant
girls into early marriage and
noted that in as much as they
were disappointed in their
wards, compelling them to marry
without considering the welfare
of the child could be detrimental.
Instead, she said, parents
should support their wards to
return to school after birth or
learn a trade to ensure that they
had viable economic adventures
to ensure financial independence
and help them to live dignified
lives.
Mr Jonathan Atsu Dordor, an
Investigator, Upper East Regional
Domestic Violence and Victim
Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the
Ghana Police Service, noted that
child marriage was a criminal
offence and an affront to the
Children’s Act of 1998, Act 560.
Mr Dordor noted that poverty
had been identified as a major
driver compelling parents to
give their children who were
under 18 years into marriage and
warned such parents to desist
from the act as they risked being
prosecuted.
“Even though as poor as we
maybe, we have so many ways
of making money or solving
issues, marriage should not be
the last resort and it is also not
wise. So, any parent who pushes
the child into marriage, the law
will also deal with such a person
because the law is no respecter of
anybody,” he said.
Mr Akengo Aziire, an Elder
of the Yorogo Community,
noted that unlike before, due to
education and enlightenment
child marriage had reduced
drastically in the community.
He commended PPAG and its
partners and noted that girl child
education was paramount to
the community and pledged the
support of the traditional leaders
and other opinion leaders in the
community to support all efforts
to totally eliminate the issues.
Education Minister advises
students to take advantage
of opportunities offered
them at school
Bagbin gives Defence & Interior C’ttee one
week to probe Islamic SHS disturbance
The Speaker of
Parliament, Alban
Bagbin, has handed
down a one-week
ultimatum to the
Defence and Interior Committee
to embark on a fact-finding
mission to Kumasi over the
incidence of alleged police
brutality at the Islamic Senior
High School (SHS).
A protest in the school
turned chaotic when police met
students with force, leading
to several persons sustaining
injuries.
Member of Parliament for
Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak,
raised the matter on the floor of
Parliament on Tuesday, June 14,
2022.
The Speaker, in giving the
directive, said: “I will direct
the committee on Defence and
Interior to take this matter up
and report next week. In other
words, the committee members
should visit the IGP to the
regional police commander and
the school in question, visit the
injured persons and report by
Tuesday with the findings and
await the final investigations
and if there is the need for us to
take any further action, we will
do that.”
Some students of the Islamic
Senior High School, Abrepo,
Kumasi, took to the streets on
Monday and blocked sections of
the road to demonstrate against
frequent motor traffic accidents
in front of their school.
In a bid to help open the road
to normal traffic flow, police
responded by firing warning
shots and opening tear gas and
pepper spray on the students.
“The students pelted the
police with stones and the police
used pepper spray and fired
warning shots in an attempt to
disperse them,” police said in a
statement.
Some students were injured
following the disturbances and
were rushed to the hospital for
treatment.
According to the police
service, although nobody died
during the disturbances, the way
its officers handled the situation
was poor and fell short of
standard operating procedures
on crowd control.
Police clinical psychologists
were subsequently deployed
to visit the school to offer
psychosocial support to the
student body.
The Ghana Police Service
has removed its Deputy Ashanti
Regional Commander, DCOP
Kwasi Akomeah Apraku and has
also interdicted two other senior
officers over the incident.
The Ministry of Education
says calm has returned to the
school.
Deputy Education Minister,
John Ntim Fordjour, after a visit
to the school on Monday night,
said all the injured students are
currently safe and responding to
medical treatment.
He also said: “Out of the
thirty-eight (38) students
hospitalised, twenty-two (22)
have been discharged and have
joined their colleagues on
campus.”
Dr. Yaw Osei
Adutwum, Minister
of Education, has
advised students to
take advantage of the
opportunities offered to them at
school so that the Government’s
investment does not go waste.
He explained that the
huge investment made by the
Government was geared toward
preparing them to become
economically empowered after
school to support the nation’s
transformation agenda.
Addressing students and
staff of the Suame Technical
Institute in Kumasi, Dr Adutwum
stated that, “do not be left out of
the ongoing transformation in
the education sector which is a
catalyst to transform the nation’s
economy”.
He charged the students
especially the girls to take their
lessons serious and should not
allow their peers to divert their
focus from their studies.
“Work hard to shape your
future dreams and aspirations so
you can get a job or create a job
yourself after your education and
also employ others after school”.
He said.
Dr Adutwum urged the
students to respect their teachers
and appreciate their work since
that was what would help shape
their future.
The Education Minister
hinted at plans to establish
Diploma awarding Technical
Colleges where after Technical
Vocation Education and Training
(TVET) courses, one can pursue
tertiary education.
Mr. Richard Addo-Gyamfi,
the Principal of the Suame
Technical Institute, commended
the Education Minister for the
visit which would help boost the
morale of the students.
He appealed to the
Government to expand
infrastructure in the school to
increase the school’s enrolment.
The Minister used the
unannounced visit to inspect
equipment at the school’s
workshop, and computer centres
and visited classrooms to interact
with students.
The unannounced visit to
schools by the Minister helps
him to access the true state
of affairs in the school for the
appropriate interventions.