Wa, Nov. 12, GNA – The Ghana Education Service (GES) has spelt out some interventions and programmes developed to address the negative impact of COVID-19 on education in the country.
These include the implementation of the re-entry guidelines across all Schools and the “Back-To-School” Advocacy Campaign.
Mr Razak Abdul-Korah, the acting Upper West Regional Director of GES, spelt out the measures upon an invitation by the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament to address the house on “Measures kept in place by the Upper West Regional Directorate of GES towards getting teenage mothers back to school”.
He said due to COVID-19, schools were closed for nine months and by the time schools were re-opened, a number of the girls had challenges including pregnancies (694), early marriage and petty trading, which made it impossible for them to return to school to continue with their education.
Mr Abdul-Korah noted that the implementation of the re-entry guidelines across all schools was to allow girls to continue with their education even after childbirth whereas the “Back-To-School” Advocacy Campaign was also aimed at getting the teenage pregnant girls back to school.
He said the attainment of these objectives was met with some challenges including stigmatization, lack of cooperation from parents, inadequate resources, ignorance, poverty, refusal of girls to report to school when placed, lack of prompt return to school after childbirth, and the attitude of the public against young mothers.
On the way forward, the Director suggested the sensitisation and encouragement of community members on the need to send their children back to school, effective monitoring of the implementation of the guidelines at the regional, district and school levels, and the retention of pregnant girls in School among others.
Madam Matilda Chireh, the Acting Regional Director of the Department of Children, noted that the welfare of the pregnant teenager and the unborn child was very important, adding that she was impressed that the Regional Youth Parliament had identified this as a development issue worthy of being discussed in the House.
“Anytime there is a break in the child’s development, it constitutes a failure on the part of society – when a teenage girl is pregnant, it showed that society has failed – it does not mean that the girl child is bad but rather it shows that society has failed this girl child”, she said.
Madam Chireh noted therefore that some of the interventions being put in place by the Department of Children and other stakeholders were in a way to correct the failure.
Mr James Baba Anabiga, the Speaker of the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament thanked both speakers for honouring the invitation of the House and urged them to continue to push hard to ensure the return of all pregnant girls in the region back to school to continue their education.
He said the House will discuss the address of the Regional Director of Education and make recommendations to the Directorate for the necessary action to ensure the welfare of teenage girls in the region.
GNA