Quality education is the cornerstone of a prosperous nation. But in Cameroon — an ethnically diverse country in south-central Africa — only 53 percent of children attend secondary school. Also, the state of girls’ education in Cameroon is troubling since they do not have access to quality education and many of them are not even enrolled in schools. According to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 70 percent of Cameroonian girls are illiterate.
The under-enrollment of girls may be explained by several factors. The main reasons being poverty, the illiteracy of their family members or even cultural norms (Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, 2010) (Yaouba A., Kamdem Kamgno H., 2013).
Having clearly identified and stated the problems Cameroonian girls are faced with in pursuit of their educational goals, No Girl Left Behind (NGLB) launched SPONSOR A GIRL Programme to help promote girl child education by offering scholarships to qualified girls. The Programme is aimed at educating 10,000 girls to college level by 2030.
Beneficiaries of this programme will be supported further upon graduation to either secure a job or further with graduate studies if they wish.