GES celebrates ‘Free SHS’ girls on International Women’s Day

The Ghana Education Service as today marks a special day for women has wished the 2023 batch of Free Senior High School (Free SHS) female students placed into various Senior High/Technical Schools happy International Women’s Day.

The Director-General of GES, Eric Nkansah in a social media post sighted by AcademicWeek said it is important for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and science-related knowledge among girls

“As we observe this day, let us all be reminded of the importance of promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and increasing science-related knowledge among students, especially girls,” he said.

The GES Director added that “the more we improve equal access to women and girls to actively participate in science, the more we help them develop 21st-century skills in critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration.”

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The females day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.

The International Day is witnessed worldwide as groups come together to celebrate women’s achievements or rally for women’s equality. Marked manually on March 8th, this year, the global campaign theme is Embrace Equity.

The campaign aims to encourage important conversations on Why equal opportunities aren’t enough and Why equal isn’t always fair. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.

International Women’s Day (IWD) has occurred for well over a century with the first gathering held in 1911. Purple, green and white are the colors of International Women’s Day.

Purple signifies justice and dignity, and being loyal to the cause. Green symbolizes hope. White represents purity, albeit a controversial concept. The colors originated from the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the UK in 1908.

In most countries including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, China (for women only), Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia, Georgia and Guinea-Bissau, the International Day for women is marked a holiday.

Others are Cambodia, Cuba, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Montenegro, Nepal (for women only). In Germany, Berlin’s parliament approved a bill in 2019 to make International Women’s Day a public holiday.