The beneficiary students, received various support forms including: school fees, living expenses, books, daily stipends, transportation, mentoring and counseling among others, under Camfed’s “The MasterCard Foundation Scholars and Bursary Programmes”.

The students are products of 72 secondary schools in the Upper West, Upper East, Northern and Central Regions where Camfed operates.

“The MasterCard Foundation Scholars” vision is to educate and develop bright but economically marginalised young girls who would after completing their education invest their experience in their communities.

Under the Bursary Programme, selection of beneficiaries is carried out through an extensive assessment at the school and community level.

This includes home visits to meet with girls and their parents or guardians and the selection process brings to light specific challenges each girl may be facing, so that the appropriate support can be provided.

Funds are disbursed to schools against a detailed breakdown of costs provided by the school and graduates of the programmes will be connected through an alumni network that offers information, resources, and opportunities to graduates.

At an induction ceremony in Wa, Mr John Asibi Ali, Director of Finance and Operations, Camfed-Ghana, said the effort was to provide guidance to the young women on career and life choices as they enter another phase of life

He said the school leavers would be given training on modules such as sexual and reproductive health, financial education, core business skills, career pathways and active citizenship.

Mr Ali urged the youth to invest their energies into productive ventures and avoid making the wrong choices.

Madam Safia Musah, Governance Programmes Facilitator of IBIS Ghana, who was a guest speaker, said UNICEF reports indicates there are about 121 million children globally out of school.

This trend of affairs, she said, was more endemic with African children and appealed to policy makers to find alternative ways to support needy but brilliant children, especially the girl-child to attend school.

Madam Musah advised the graduates to obey the existing societal norms as that was required for one to be successful.

Miss Abdulai Erasum Sauda, a former student of Saint Francis Girls Secondary School in Jirapa, and a beneficiary of the programme, said her father has six children and she lost her mother when she was in Junior High School.

She said her mother’s death caused an imbalance in her father’s finances and she has to drop out of school after she had written the Basic Education Certificate Examinations.

Miss Erasum said luck fell on her way when she was linked to Camfed sponsorship saying “I have now completed my secondary education and it is my dream to become a nurse”.