The “Back to School campaign” instituted by the Ghana Education Service for pregnant school girls who have dropped out of school is yielding positive results in the Eastern region as a total of 691 teenage nursing mothers and pregnant girls had returned to the classroom as of May 2021.
An assessment survey on the “Back to School project” across all the 33 Municipal and District Assemblies in the region revealed that Kwaebibirem District had the highest number of 53 of these teenage girls in school, followed by Kwahu South and Upper Manya Krobo Districts which had 42 each.
The Regional Statistics Officer of the GES, Godfred Dzeke, disclosed this at the Review Session of the Back to School Advocacy Campaign in Koforidua.
The Eastern Regional Girl Child Education Officer, Patricia Brago Gyamfi, said the campaign became imperative following an unprecedented surge in teenage pregnancy cases after schools were closed down for 10 months during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
“We believe the campaign is worth it because now a lot of people are aware that there is a policy in place. There is a policy of re-entry, so even if you are pregnant, there is the opportunity for you to go back to school and continue your education. We have realized that several girls have reported back after delivery. We are not there yet but we are making progress” she stated
The Eastern Region recorded more than 10,000 teenage pregnancy cases during the heat of the covid-19 pandemic.
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
