March 21, 2016 By Patrick Jaiah Kamara
To commemorate International Women’s Day (IWD), the Initiative for Children and Youths (ICYI), with support from GOAL, last Friday (18 March) certified several school children as part of their school advocacy project.
In her welcome address, Aminata Songova Kamara, Project Assistant said though the celebration was belated they thought it fit to recognise school girls in various secondary schools.
Ms. Kamara noted that bringing women’s issue to the fore was one of their project blueprints, hence they have begun at basic school levels. She said women’s representation in society was still below the expected average in the country.
“IWD was celebrated on March 8, 2016 but we still want to recognise our girls in society. We want to create awareness in school children that women should take the front seat. Charity they say “begins at home”, that is why we have started advocacy in schools,” she said.
In her brief statement, Haja Fatmata Sowa, Mainstreaming Officer at GOAL, applauded ICYI for their initiative and registered her organisation’s commitment to a continuous support.
She encouraged the children to focus on their education because “education is the prime key to success”. She said school children were always prone to teenage pregnancy and noted that such campaign would help minimise ‘societal menace’.
In her contribution, Serah Thompson of Government Rokel Secondary School said sexual harassment from teachers and male pupils was one of the ills in schools.
She called on the government to place a moratorium on teachers who usually ask pupils to pay for submitting assignments.
Pupils from Rokel, Government Technical, Vine Memorial Model, and Bishop Johnson schools received certificates for their active participation in the process.