General News of Tuesday, 1 January 2019

Source: starrfmonline.com

'Insane' alarming teen pregnancy a worry – GES

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The Asuogyaman District Directorate of the Ghana Education Service (GES) is worried over “insane upsurge” in teenage pregnancy at Anchiase, a farming community in the district.

At least 12 female pupils got impregnated in 2018 in the District and have since stopped schooling.

The situation has been partly blamed on high poverty rate among inhabitants who are unable to provide basic needs of their children including food.

In a desperate effort to find food, these school children fall prey to sexual predators.

Speaking at a feast organized for workers and the Anchiansa Community members by a California-based Ghanaian businessman, Daniel Nte, the Circuit Supervisor of GES, Solomon Addo said: “They don’t have a lot of school learning materials so they have to go to the bush to cut firewood, sell and then get money.”

He continued: “Another problem we are facing is that the young men in the community are disturbing the girls too much. We have as much as 10, 11, to 12 young ladies who have given birth to date.”

He said all efforts to get them to go back to school proved futile, saying “once they have given birth they don’t want to go to school.”

Majority of the basic school pupils in Anchiansa community can neither read nor write and in order to reverse that trend, Mr. Addo as a native of Anchianse Community is working hard to solicit support for the construction of a library in the community.

Mr. Nte who is also the CEO of Muzuu Farms on his part provided special packages of educational materials to school pupils still persevering in their education in the community.