A girl's education usually ends at the first financial shock: fees, a uniform, a pregnancy, a marriage. Our education program is built to absorb those shocks.
The challenge
In the communities where we work, girls drop out for reasons that are predictable, and therefore preventable. School costs arrive at the same time every term. Distance makes secondary school risky. Early marriage is still treated as a solution to hardship. Once a girl leaves, returning is close to impossible without an adult who advocates for her.
What we do
- Re-enroll girls who have dropped out, and follow them for at least two academic years.
- Match each girl with a mentor who checks attendance and grades every term.
- Cover the specific costs that cause dropout: fees, uniforms, books, transport, exam registration.
- Train teachers and school leaders on keeping schools safe and reporting harassment.
- Work with families and community leaders so that staying in school is the normal choice.
What changes
With CAMFED Ghana we have returned 250 girls to school. In Katiu Saa, community by-laws protecting girls' education helped reduce child marriage from roughly 70% to 1%, with a corresponding rise in enrollment and a fall in teenage pregnancy.
How you can help
Sponsoring one girl for a school year covers fees, a uniform, books and exam registration. Email us for a costed breakdown before you give.