Teenage pregnancy at the basic level in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region is forcing children to drop out of school due to the difficulties in balancing pregnancy and education.
Authorities in the area are worried about the alarming rate at which most children are leaving school during pregnancy. This has led some parents to force their children into early marriage, ending their academic career after giving birth.
In other cases, some teenagers travel south in search of better opportunities and do not return.
According to the regional girl child education officer, Sabratu Mahama, the region in 2023 recorded only six teenage pregnancy cases and a few dropouts. However, from January this year, the region has recorded 27 teenage pregnancy cases, 18 breastfeeding, and 38 dropout.
She said the number may be more than that, adding that they have a challenge with transport, saying it is affecting their movement from community to community to get information.
However, in an interview with Asaase News, Rhoda Ramatu Zakari, the West Mamprusi Municipal girl child education officer, shared her concerns.
“As a girls education officer, teenage pregnancy in the district is very very worrying because it doesn’t help the children to stay in school,” she said.
Rhoda stressed that “Most of them when they are pregnant they stay out of school and the parents push them into forced marriage.”
She stressed that most young girls resort to seeking money from men for sanitary pads, which often leads to sexual exploitation, as their parents fail to provide these basic necessities.
The North East Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Simon Amokese, told Asaase News that the rate of teenage pregnancy in the entire region is a concern. He pledged to collaborate with stakeholders to find a solution.
“It is a concern to us.That requires a whole regional effort,” he said.
“I don’t understand why the era of free Senior High School, free basic school [and] some will still not think their children should go to school,” he added.
Amokese also criticised parents for allowing their children to stay home from school during the rainy season to help with farm work.
However, the authorities have commended certain NGOs, particularly PARDA and Oxfam Ghana, for their efforts to reduce teenage pregnancy in the region. They urged these organizations to continue sensitizing communities in the North East Region to help mitigate the rising trend of teenage pregnancy.
Reporting by Dokurugu Alhassan in the North East Region
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