Five students who became pregnant while still attending school have been reintegrated into the school system, acting Chief Schools Welfare Officer Carol Melville said.
Melville said in a Ministry of Education press release that the decision aims to give the teenage mothers an opportunity to complete their secondary education and lead a positive and productive life.
She noted that four of the girls have been placed at secondary schools in the city and the parents of the other girl have opted to send her to a private school on the East Coast Demerara.
Melville said the young mothers came to the attention of the Schools Welfare Department following the officers’ outreach visits to health clinics, schools and communities.
The acting Chief Schools Welfare Officer said educational sessions will be done with the teenage mothers with the focus on empowering them. These sessions will cover several areas including building self-esteem, parenting and child care, and stress and anger management.
These efforts, she said, are aimed at helping the young mothers to adjust to their new role as a parent, to complete secondary school, further their education and become meaningful contributors to society. The Ministry of Education has recognized the drastic changes in people’s lifestyles over the past three decades and the programme to re-integrate teenage mothers in school is one of the measures it has taken to ensure a progressive society for the vulnerable, the release stated.The ministry views education as a fundamental human right and stands firmly by the position that a 14-year-old who has become pregnant while still in school has not lost that right.
The programme to re-integrate teenage mothers in schools is also part of the ministry’s wider policy of education access to all.
In the meantime, head teachers have been encouraged to develop a sense of appreciation for teenage parents as some are victims of broken homes and other unfortunate circumstances, the release concluded.
