Haddisah Ibrahim, 15, is a student who is committed to finishing school and becoming a doctor. "One day I will return to this area and help treat the sick people in my home town," she said.

Did you know the average girl in Ghana only receives four years of education? Early marriage, pregnancy, poverty, and sexual harassment are all obstacles that force girls to drop out of school before the end of junior high.

As an Oxfam supporter, you know that educating girls is critical. Each additional year of primary school a girl attends increases her future wages by 10 to 20 percent.

That's why, thanks to Oxfam supporters like you, we joined forces with local partners and communities to build a junior high school in Ghana to tackle barriers preventing girls from finishing their educations. We aimed to demonstrate that safe, girl-friendly schools would empower girls and motivate them to stay in school.

The first Girls Model Junior High School opened in 2008. All enrolled girls passed their final exams, and most went on to attend senior high school. By March 2018, there were 44 schools in districts across northern Ghana. That first school became a model for girls' success in Ghana.

Read more about how you're supporting girls' access to education.

Tackling structural problems requires innovative solutions, so the schools have taken a new approach with learner-centric methodologies not applied very often by teachers in this part of Ghana. Computers are integrated into lessons, and teachers are trained to encourage the girls to participate actively in the classroom, and even to challenge teachers with individual points of view.

Ninety-five percent of the girls registered at the Girls Model Junior High Schools have graduated, and the majority are continuing their education. Compare that to the schools' surrounding communities, where girls constitute just 10 percent of the children who graduate from junior high school. In total, more than 1,642 girls are now enrolled at the model schools.

Municipal Chief Executive Hajia Adishetu Seidu noted, "When we educate girls, we break the cycle of poverty. Women take care of their families, they share everything they earn, and they make sure that their own children also go to school."

Together, we can reduce gender inequality and increase girls' access to education. When women succeed, we all succeed.

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