By Michel Outridge

WOMEN Across Differences (WAD), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), yesterday endorsed the call by the Ministry of Education and First Lady Sandra Granger to have teenage mothers re-integrated into schools.WAD Coordinator Clonel Samuels-Boston yesterday told the Guyana Chronicle that the organisation strongly supports the call because they have had a comprehensive empowerment programme which was sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) from 2008-2013.

She said further that Republic Bank has been sponsoring the comprehensive empowerment programme for teenage mothers with effect from 2015.

Their focus is on adolescent girls between the ages of 12 to 19 and they assist the girls in getting re-integrated into schools after they would have had their babies and are still of schoolage.

Samuels-Boston told this newspaper that at present they are working with First Lady Granger and the Office of the Presidency, sponsoring five girls and paying their tuition to have them re-integrated into schools. She said it is a worthy initiative because the girls will have the opportunity to be educated and become successful.

SECOND CHANCE
Samuels-Boston pointed out that education is very important and it is like a second chance for the teenage mothers who can be empowered. However, if the girls do not return to school it will overburden the welfare system and even lead to exploitation of the young women, while promoting a higher illiteracy rate.

Shanice Edwards, who is presently enrolled in the teenage-mother programme facilitated by WAD, told the Guyana Chronicle that she has been associated with the NGO since last year September and has no regrets because she has gained a lot.

The 19 year old said that she had wanted to return to school since last year, but she had a baby who is now two months old and when he gets older she will pursue studies so she can get a job subsequently. She added that the programmes offered by WAD are very useful and she is motivated to continue classes there.

WAD is a women’s organisation which was established in 1996 to enable women and girls to empower themselves through access to social and economic resources. The organisation provides a forum for women to meet and also encourages them to make their collective voices heard in the area of public policy.

WAD offers courses free of cost in personal development, sexual reproductive health, entrepreneur development and physio-social support. There are 25 volunteers taking these courses. WAD partners with other NGOs and plans to expand to cater for a daycare centre, once it obtains substantial accommodation.

Meanwhile, on February 14, 2016, Minister of Education Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine told the House that school-aged mothers would now have a better chance to complete their education because the Education Ministry recognises that they need to be reintegrated into the school system.
This is among a number of areas of concern that have been identified to be confronted in 2016, as the Education Ministry seeks to overcome the challenges and launch new initiatives for the enhancement of the education system. The sum of $40.3B has been allocated to this sector in the 2016 budget.
This improvement would eventually impact the system’s ultimate goal, resulting in the production of ‘better all-round citizens’ and the creation of ‘a better society’, Dr. Roopnaraine asserted.
The UNFPA says it “is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.” Their work involves the improvement of reproductive health, including creation of national strategies and protocols, and providing supplies and services.