PASSING all ten subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination, with six of those being Grade Ones, Toneisha London, student of the Institute of Business Education (IBE), is a living testimony of the Guyanese adage, ‘a woman only falls if she wants to.’ While scores of students share the same level of success as London hers was special given the peculiar challenges she faced and overcame as a teenage mother.
London’s story is one written in tears. She did fall, but with determination to be educated and with the motivation from her aunt, Angela London, she got up seven times stronger. In 2017, Toneisha became pregnant and made the decision to drop out of the Hope Secondary School. She was already in the Fifth Form and was preparing for CSEC. Her aunt was determined that Toneisha attended private lessons, even in her pregnant state and write at least four subjects. That she did, but was not as successful as she wanted to. “For me I think I didn’t do so good, because I was tired most of the times because I was pregnant and I didn’t think I was focused enough. Then, two months before the examination, my daughter was born, so the stress of being a first time mother also made it challenging,” she related. In addition, taunts and gossiping from her school mates, given the discrimination that is still attached to teenage pregnancy, also played its role, but Toneisha said she didn’t allow that to get the best of her, as she had an aim and that was to make her aunt proud.
Her satisfactory performance was not the end of the road. Knowing she had the ability to excel and being able to better handle motherhood, with the encouragement from her aunt, she enrolled at IBE and signed up for ten subjects. Toneisha secured 6 Grade Ones, 2 Grade twos and 2 Grade threes. She was the third highest performer at her school. “I feel proud of myself, and I am happy that I made myself and my aunt proud,” she said. “I didn’t go back to fail, I went back to get my subjects because I have a child and I want to be able to get a job and take care of her.
Toneisha aspires to become a midwife and is hoping to attend nursing school in September. The preparation process for the 19 – year- old mother was tedious, but she kept her eyes on the prize and she pulled through. “I had to be at school from Sunday to Sunday. I had to wake early and study, go to bed late at nights and still had my daughter to take care of, but it was worth it.” Again, she expressed gratitude to her aunt for playing a pivotal role in assisting her with her daughter- a role she did not have to take on, but because of selfless love, she did so with the only condition, that Toneisha excels. She said her aunt took her daughter to school, collected her after and did babysitting duties free of cost so she can study.
The teenage mother hopes her success story reaches the ears of the many other teenagers who are battling with negative thoughts, demotivation and lack of empowerment to make the best of their situation. “I would advise them that getting pregnant in your teens is not the end of the road, it is all about you, once you are willing to pull through and remain focus, you will make it, no matter what anyone says,” Toneisha posited.
The Coalition Government has reintegrated over 800 teenage mothers back into learning institutions throughout the 10 administrative regions. Of this amount, 500 have been placed in the technical and vocational studies and the others chose to attend secondary schools. Last month, Minister of Education Nicolette Henry said amenities such as daycare facilities were also provided for the teenage mothers.
This move, she noted is in keeping with the policy of reintegration of adolescent mothers into the education system, as this is seen as paramount to the development of women and girls in Guyana. Minister Henry stressed that, by sending girls back to school, they will be better equipped with life and other skills. She believes that investing in girls’ education is investing in the development of a nation.
