Asutifi District records Brong Ahafo’s highest pregnancy rate in 2011 BECE
Majority of pregnant students during the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Brong Ahafo Region came from the Asutifi District.
This was made known by Mrs Kyei Abrafi, Asutifi District Girls Education Officer of the Ghana Education Service (GES), who said the district alone recorded 63 per cent of all related cases.
She said out of the 30 pregnant girls who participated in the examination in the Region, 19 of them and a nursing mother were from the Asutifi District and expressed concern about the high prevalent rate of teenage pregnancy in the district.
Mrs Abrafi was speaking at the celebration of International Rural Women’s Day at Obengkrom in the Asutifi District.
The event was jointly organised by Action Aid Ghana and Centre for Maternal Health and Community Empowerment (CMCE) on the theme: “The Empowerment of Rural women and their Role in Poverty and Hunger Eradication”.
Mrs Abrafi called for prompt attention by all stakeholders to be given to situation and help reverse the trend as more of such girls are being lured with money by galamsey operators in the district.
She said a survey conducted in nine schools last year revealed that 30 students including a class six pupil, were pregnant and therefore dropped out from school.
Mrs Abrafi said the situation was getting out of hand because parents did not see their children’s education as a priority as they failed to provide them with the necessary learning materials and called on parents to live up to their responsibilities.
Mr John Abaah, Programme Officer in-charge of Women’s Right in Action aid, said it was time to reduce poverty among women in the country by empowering them to fight for their rights.
He said about 70 per cent of women worldwide lived in poverty saying there was the need to resource and equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to venture into viable economic ventures.
Mr Abaa said though women smallholder farmers in the country formed the majority in food production, they did not have adequate access to farm lands and called on government to develop and implement appropriate policies on land administration.
Mr Salaam Mahama, a Member of CMCE, cautioned parents against the settlement of defilement and rape cases at home since it was against the law in the country and warned that defaulters would be prosecuted.
He urged parents to show concern about issues concerning their children because they were the country’s hope and future leaders.
Source: GNA