UNIFICATION CITY, Margibi – The principal of the Robert Stanley Caufield High School says the visit of the United States first lady is a boost to his institution.

Augustine Samuka Gboyo said Michelle Obama’s stop at the school to launch her Let Girls Learn initiative will add to ongoing education programs for girls at the institution.

Gboyo said the school has an enrollment of 1,034 students, 334 of which are females.

“The school has a long traditional history of promoting girls’ education,” he said.

In 2004, the school partnered with the Foundation for African Women Educationalists to launch life skills and home economics training program for female students.

In addition to that program, Gboyo said UNICEF and USAID have also increased opportunities for girls at the institution through empowerment and motivational programs.

The Robert Stanley Caufield High School in Margibi. Photo: Gbatemah Senah

Currently, he said, UNICEF is partnering with the Ministry of Education on a Gender Equitable Education Program aimed at encouraging and preparing girls to compete with their male counterparts.

He said the GEEP program, as it is more commonly known, is benefiting 200 female students.

Participants of the program are selected based on poor performance observed during the first marking period of evaluation.

“The students are benefiting from free after school tutorial,” Gboyo said. “This has been enhancing their capacity to a larger extent. In 2014, a beneficiary of the program [led] her class with the highest average of 96 percent.”

Augustine Samuka Gboyo, Principal of the R.S. Caufield High School. Photo: Gbatemah Senah

The performance of beneficiaries of the program, he said, has attracted others to the program.

As part of the program, Gboyo said the students are given meals during the extra tutorial classes while teachers in the program receive an extra stipend as compensation for their extra contributions.

The R.S. Caufield principal said he wants girls to use the launch of the Let Girls Learn initiative at the school as an opportunity to strive for excellence.

The R.S. Caufield High School was founded in 1972 as a public primary school to provide primary education to children in the area. It was converted to a full high school in 2010 as demand for secondary education grew.

Featured photo by Gbatemah Senah