Five students who became pregnant while in school have been reintegrated into the school system, Acting Chief Schools’ Welfare Officer Carol Melville said.
According to Melville, the move aims at giving 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 within the city and the parents for the fifth one have opted to send her to a private school on the East Coast of Demerara.
Melville pointed out that the young mothers came to the attention of the Schools’ Welfare Department following her officers’ outreach visits to health clinics, schools, and communities.
She said that educational sessions will be done with the teenage mothers with the focus of empowering them. These sessions will cover several areas, including building self-esteem, parenting and child care and stress and anger management.
The Ministry of Education has recognized the drastic changes in people’s lifestyles over the past three decades and the programme to reintegrate teenage mothers in school is one of the measures it has taken to ensure a progressive society for the vulnerable.
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 reintegrate teenage mothers in schools is also part of the ministry’s wider policy of education access for all.
Head teachers have been encouraged to develop a sense of appreciation for teenage parents as some are victims of broken homes and other varying unfortunate circumstances.
Another five teenage mothers were successfully reintegrated into the school system last year. The Schools’ Welfare Department will soon carry out surveys to obtain samples of affected teenage mothers and pregnant girls in Regions Three, Four, Five and Georgetown.
The findings of a recent research on the subject has revealed that teen mothers have an interest in continuing their education but need various forms of intervention and support to succeed in their endeavours.
These include an education environment that respects and understands their situation.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh has noted that the initiative is in keeping with the government’s quest to raise a literate population and provide citizens with an opportunity to improve the quality of their lives, particularly the disadvantaged population.