DON'T PUSH GIRLS INTO EARLY MARRIAGE — VEEP (PAGE 11, AUGUST 7, 2010)

THE Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, has cautioned parents against pushing their female children into early marriages. He pointed out that the practice hampered their development and affected their efforts to develop their full potential and to achieve their ambitions.
He said it was therefore necessary for parents to change their attitude towards the education of their daughters and collaborate effectively with teachers and other school authorities to ensure their proper development.
Mr Mahama gave the advice when he addressed the fourth speech and prize giving day of the Islamic Senior High School in Wa, in the Upper West Region.
He said studies show that girls have gradually formed a significant proportion of the population of many institutions of higher learning in the country and many of them were doing very well, adding that, for these reasons that they must be encouraged to pursue their education with all seriousness to unearth their talents.
Mr Mahama also advised parents to discourage children from engaging in street hawking at the expense of their education, pointing out that the lukewarm attitude of parents who left the responsibility of the upbringing of their children, solely to teachers in schools without paying attention to their school work and educational needs, must change.
“The moral decadence rearing its head in our society could be arrested if all parents, teachers, politicians and all other stakeholders collectively work together in that direction” Mr Mahama stressed and said “Posterity would not forgive us if we are not able to tackle this social canker”.
He indicated the resolve of the government to improve the lot of teachers through the provision of incentives, allowances and infrastructure, especially in deprived areas.
He also commended the Islamic Senior High School and Muslims for embracing secular education which he said, had a lot of positive implications and advised students to be disciplined and concentrate on their books in order to achieve academic excellence.
Mr Mahama further advised students to respect their parents and teachers.
The Headmaster of the School, Mr Sulemana Alhassan, revisited the issue of the use of mobile phones in schools and urged parents and guardians to partner school authorities to ensure that their wards did not come to school with mobile phones.
He mentioned inadequate accommodation for both students and teachers as a major challenge facing the school, and said there was also the need to construct a wall for the school to curb the frequent visit to town by the students.