The Upper West Regional Youth Parliament has convened a sitting discussing measures kept in place by the Upper West Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) towards getting teenage mothers back school.
The sitting convened under the motion, “Measures Kept in Place by the Ghana Health Service, Upper West Regional Directorate towards Getting Teenage Mother Back to School” was held on Wednesday, November 24, 2021 in Wa.
Delivering a keynote address at the sitting, the Regional Director of the National Youth Authority (NYA), Mr Ampofo Amankona, said women constitute a large proportion of the Ghanaian population and that issues hampering the education of girl children should be keenly attended to.
He noted that education played a very crucial role in protecting women’s rights, preventing gender-based violence and empowering the girl child through information and self-confidence.
He reiterated the need to bridge the inequalities gap between boys saying, “The challenge of getting our teenage mothers back to school, to me, is a collective responsibility”.
Moving the motion before the House, Mr Sidick Marizuk, the Majority Leader of the Parliament, indicated that the high rate of teenage pregnancy was a source of worry and that it robbed the girl child of her right to education and personal development.
He stressed the importance of girl child education to the development of the nation and emphasized the need for concerted effort to end the canker of teenage pregnancy.
The Upper West Focal Person for Adolescent Health Services with the GHS, Pognaa Rosemary Bangzie, delivering a paper at the floor of the Parliament on behalf of the Upper Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Damien Punguyire, said girls below the age of 20 formed 11.9 per cent of recorded pregnancies in the region in 2020, which was a little lower than the 13.5 per cent and 13.8 per cent in 2019 and 2018 respectively.
She however, said the GHS together with its partners has kept in place numerous interventions at getting teenage mother back to school after child delivery.
Key among them, she mentioned, included formation of 30 in-school adolescent health clubs in 30 basic schools in seven districts and municipalities and ten out-of-school clubs in 5 districts in the region with high cases of teenage pregnancy including the Wa West District.
According to her, the GHS was also implementing the “Safety Net” programme in five districts with high cases of teenage pregnancy to help reduce the issue of child marriage and to promote girl child education in the region.
She noted that the GHS would continue its interventional measures in the ensuing year to maintain its impact and feet at getting girls back to school.
She added the the Service would expand the scope of the measures currently put in place for wider coverage.
Representatives from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service and the Network for Young Women Empowerment also gave solidarity messages on the motion under consideration.