The Ministry of Education has lauded the US Embassy for its donation of a quantity of baby and hygiene kits to 20 teenage mothers, noting that the support is in keeping with its plans to afford teenage mothers an opportunity to continue their secondary education.
In a press release, the ministry said the donation included diapers, blankets, bonnets, socks, soaps and towels. According to Acting Chief School’s Welfare Officer Carol Melville three of the mothers who are between the ages of 14 and 16 years will be reintegrated into the school system in the next school term.
These students will be placed at the school they last attended or if they request, at another school to avoid stigma and discrimination. The other teenage mothers who are above 16 years old will be enrolled at the Adult Education Association, the Carnegie School of Home Economics or the Sophia Training Centre.
Melville pointed out that the department was made a ware of the young mothers after its officers held outreach activities at clinics, schools and communities.
She also said the teens will be interviewed to assess their educational level and to find out their plans for the future.
The department also plans to host several sessions with the young mothers to empower them with life skills, boost their self-esteem, literacy and numeracy skills, parenting and child care skills. It will also provide other skills training, anger management and basic Information Technology classes.
She said the objective of the programme is to identify the needs of the targeted group, collect, collate and disseminate information about their experiences, empower them to perform their roles as parents, provide services to enhance and support their well-being as well as individual emotional and practical support.
Melville said these efforts are aimed at helping the young mothers adjust to their new roles as parents as well as to complete their secondary education and learn a skill to gain employment or to become self-employed. The ministry recognises the drastic changes in people’s lifestyles over the past three decades and the programme to reintegrate teenage mothers in school is one of the measures it has taken to ensure vulnerable persons become progressive. The ministry is also encouraging head teachers to exercise sensitivity to teenage parents as some are victims of broken homes and other varying unfortunate circumstances.
The ministry said five teenage mothers were successfully reintegrated into the school system last year. The School’s Welfare Department will soon conduct surveys on the lives of pregnant girls and teenage mothers in regions three, four, five and in Georgetown. It said findings of a recent study done on the topic has revealed that teen mothers are interested in continuing their education but need various forms of intervention and support to succeed in this area; including an education environment that respects and understands their situation.
