The Centre for Sustainable Development (CENSUDI), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the Upper East Region, has sponsored over 200 students under its Education and Improvement Programme (EPI). The beneficiaries are from primary four, junior high schools and senior high schools (SHS) in the Talensi-Nabdam, Bolgatanga Municipal, Kassena-Nankana West, Bawku West and Bawku East districts. Inaugurating a club that is aimed at promoting education at Kongo near Bolgatanga Mr. Donald Adabre, a former Regional Minister, appealed to the beneficiaries, especially girls, to take their studies seriously and go far in education. He appealed to parents not to discriminate against girls and said the situation where parents preferred to send only boys to school was not the best. Mr. Adabre said experience had shown that most girls performed better than boys in the academic institutions. The Head of Programmes of CENSUDI, Mr. Robert Alasgskoma, said parents in the region did not pay attention to the Girl-Child Education and that it was against this background that CENSUDI embarked on the Girl-Child programme as one of its major programmes to address the problem. He said CENSUDI was established in 1994 to address gender imbalances that exist across all areas of life and to promote and strengthen strategies to mobilize women to participate in decision making and leadership positions. Mr. Adabre said in order to realize this dream his outfit had been working in four areas and these include Education Improvement Programme (EIP) which focuses on Scholarship Scheme and the Northern Network for Educational Development. He said the main aim of the educational Support Scheme Project (ESS) was to open doors to formal learning and education to girls, women and other vulnerable groups in the region. He said CENSUDI would continue to work hard and to look for funding to sponsor the needy but brilliant students especially girls, to address the gender imbalances. Source: GNA