Sissala west: An education support project implemented by the Community Development Alliance (CDA Ghana), in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service (GES), has helped to return 93 out-of-school children to the classroom. The beneficiaries included 55 boys and 38 girls from seven communities within the project areas in Dasima, Kusali, Buoti, Nyimeti, and Kandia communities in the Sissala West District, as well as in the Chansa and Charia communities in the Wa Municipality.
According to Ghana News Agency, the project, dubbed 'Bridging Fund: Girls Rights and Empowerment Project (G-REP)', was implemented in ten communities in the Sissala West District and Wa Municipality. Mr. Suleman Bipuah, the Programmes Manager at CDA Ghana, disclosed this at a durbar of pupils and parents at Nyemiti in the Sissala West District. He said the process involved community engagements, counselling, child rights advocacy, and material support, adding that the project identified and registered 217 out-of-school children in the ten project communities, out of which 93 had been successfully re-enrolled into formal basic schools.
Mr. Bipuah explained that they organised activities, such as focus group discussions with parents, chiefs, teachers, and Fulbe settlements to understand the barriers to education, as well as counselling sessions that encouraged the children to return to school. Over 600 community leaders and school authorities were sensitised on child protection using UNICEF toolkits, while 59 young people and adults were trained as change agents to advocate against child marriage and abuse.
To sustain enrolment and retention, CDA Ghana distributed school uniforms, books, and learning materials to all 93 re-enrolled children to address the financial driver of school dropout. The initiative had also strengthened stakeholder commitment to safe and inclusive schools, particularly for girls and minority children.
Madam Fati Banawole, the Girl Child Coordinator at the Sissala West Education Service, appealed to parents to support their wards, including providing their basic needs to enable them to be in school. "Keeping the girls in school will keep them away from being married off by men, for if they are found travelling to the south to do menial jobs instead of being in school, so let's protect them," she urged. She added that the pressures faced by women are often due to a lack of responsibility towards their children, urging continued dialogue and support.
The Girls Rights and Empowerment Project (G-REP) aimed to reduce barriers to education, particularly for girls, and ensure that vulnerable children in underserved communities had the opportunity to return and stay in school. The intervention, which targeted school dropouts with a strong focus on vulnerable groups such as Fulbe girls and young women, was carried out between October 2025 and January 2026.