The headmaster of Dabir-Benyadze-Egyeikrom (DBE) M/A Basic “A” school in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region (CR) has bemoaned about the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy in his school and has thus appealed to the pupils to put an end to it for him to become a happy person.
According to Mr. Samuel Nyarkoh, the school’s candidates go to Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) centre with at least a pregnancy or two every year.
This, he says tarnishes the image of the school hence his appeal to the pupils to desist from sexual immoralities and instead concentrate on their studies.
Mr. Nyarkoh, who doubles as the chief of Dompuase-Kokwaado under the Komenda Traditional area in the municipality, made this remarks when a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) group called Adolescent Sexual Health Initiative (ASHI) in collaboration with God’s Movement International (GMI) organised a health talk on teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion for Junior High School (JHS) pupils of the school.
He recounted situations where some of the pupils who had given birth often ask permission from him to go home breastfeed their kids.
“I remember sometime ago when I was going round the school then I spotted on a certain girl outside, then I asked her what she’s doing outside and to my surprise, this young girl told me ‘master please I feel my breast getting fermented so I’m going home to breastfeed my child and come back’, in fact I felt sad that day and asked myself where at all are these young children rushing to,” the headmaster recalled.
According to Mr. Nyarko, the situation does not only tarnish the image of the school, but it affects the candidates’ performances. He then urged the pupils to instead focus on their education and take it seriously.
Speaking on the theme, “Curbing the menace of teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortion among Ghanaian school going children”, the Executive Director of the Initiative, Jacob Baidoo, charged the female pupils to resist gifts from any male counterpart and instead rely on their parents for all their needs to prevent being slept with in the end.
He charged teachers to openly and boldly talk about sexual health to the children and promised that the group would intensify its collaboration with the school in order to offer more sexual health education for the pupils.
The group then donated five desktop computers and assorted library books to the school.
