THE Ministry of Education, through its Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) Programme, re-integrated 75 adolescent mothers into the Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE), bringing the numbers to a total of 225 teen moms who are benefiting from technical and vocational education.

At the orientation session of this fourth batch on Monday, Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry, was unable to attend but however sent her remarks.
Minister noted that this initiative was birthed in 2018 so as to afford teen moms the opportunity to get back on the path of self-development.
She highlighted that since the launch in June 2018, in December 2018, 30 mothers were reintegrated; in March 2019, 80 mothers; last Friday another 40 were reintegrated in Skeldon, Berbice.

Henry in her remarks, urged the new batch to encourage other mothers to get on board “as we continue to aim to lift the standards of all of our citizens.”
District Education Officer (Secondary), Sherwin Blackman, told the gathering that every single person is entitled to that given chance of having a very best education.
“Regardless of our circumstances, the journey upward would normally be faced with many hurdles. I think what makes us stronger at the end of this process, is our ability to overcome these hurdles. Yet look back at ourselves and the persons who would have supported us during this process, to ensure that we can celebrate our successes at the given point. But more so, ensuring that we are proud of ourselves in this process,” Blackman said.

He further enlightened the group of young women that the “what lies behind you, and certainly what lies before you are really the tiniest things that matter, compared to all that lies in you. As you recognize what lies inside you, you will come to the realization that one of the strongest things you need is self-empowerment which means you would have to be prepared to push yourselves to the extent that you can achieve basically anything you set yourself out to achieve.”

Principal of CSHE, Myrna Lee, said that the school is continuously seeking opportunities to harmonise with the mandate of the Ministry of Education.

“We have customized our programmes to meet the needs of the population that is given to us, our teenage mothers. “Our staff have been trained and briefed on the kinds of social, economic and academic needs that are necessary for the success of each individual mother in the group. For we know too well, and I quote, “children with less educated mothers, are unlikely to complete the school themselves and there are more likely to become poorly educated; and may have fewer opportunities to better their lives” end of quote. As an institution, we would like to contribute to the improvement of literacy and competency of all mothers. When you educate a mother, you educate a family. When you educate a family, you educate villages and communities, and when you educate villages and communities, you impact nations,” Lee told the attendees.

The young women will engage in a 10-week programme in elementary cookery, cake decoration and family decoration. During the 10 weeks, the adolescent mothers will benefit from full transportation, day care services for their children and will also receive start-up kits after completion of the courses, to venture in their own line of business to sustain themselves and families.