Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, Minister of Education, on
Saturday said the development of every society was anchored on the value of education given to its women.
This, in itself, was interlinked with access to modern health facilities and opportunity to achieve their fullest potential, he said.
He said girls needed to be encouraged and given equal opportunity to education since it was vital in the life of every human being.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said this at the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Accra Girls Senior High School (AGISS) on the theme: "Sustaining Quality Girl-Child Education, 50 Years Beyond."
He said resources available to families for education had in the past gone in favour of the male children to the detriment of female children
until a little over 50 years when it become important to correcting the existing imbalance by increasing enrollment of girls in schools.
Mr Tettey-Enyo said a careful study of the community revealed that society did not put premium on girl-child education adding that there was the need for a conscious effort to ensure total elimination of any form of discrimination in education against girls.
He said; "it is expected that by 2015 enrollment of girls in schools would equal that of boys in all 10 regions".
He noted that the issue of accommodation faced by most senior high schools needed to be tackled in its right perspective and that government would complete all unfinished structures in the schools as well as put up new ones.
Mr Tettey-Enyo commended the school for the success chalked since its inception and urged it to use the occasion to reflect on the progress made and renew its commitment to the vision of empowering all girls that passed through its walls with the requisite knowledge, understanding and awareness to enable them to become women of stature and substance.
He gave the assurance of government's involvement in girl-child enrollments in schools and urged other stakeholders to partner it to help
put up good and adequate structures for senior high schools.
Ms Veronica Akapame, Headmistress of the school, said the academic performance of the school over the years had been very steady with
remarkable improvements while students continued to excel with many of them qualifying to enter tertiary institutions.
She commended the board and staff members for their hard work and commitment which had resulted in that achievement and urged them not to be complacent but work even harder.
Ms Akapame said although the school was one of the best senior high schools in Ghana, it had inadequate staff and student residential
accommodation, lacked a sports field as well as regular supply of potable water.
She said the Old Students Association as well as the Parent Teacher Association had undertaken various projects which had immensely helped to make life more comfortable for both students and staff.
Ms Akapame called on government, organizations and individuals to help support the school to be able to train more girls in the country.