TAPPITA, NIMBA COUNTY, LIBERIA-Tappita District Education Officer, Victor Playeah, has acknowledged the increasing number of teenage pregnancies among school-going girls in the district, “describing the situation as alarming”.
Playeah attributed the situation to key underlying factors, including peer pressure and lack of proper parental control and care by those students.
To address the situation, he said Education stakeholders in the district, along with health workers, have increased awareness about the dangers of teenage pregnancy in schools in the area.
This approach, Playeah noted, that it will increase their knowledge and broaden their mindset on the choices they make in years to come.
The Tappita District Education Officer, over the weekend, also highlighted the continuation of night school sessions to enable the girls to complete their academic journey despite being pregnant.
He is, however, calling for a collective approach in tackling the menace that is geared towards the protection and elevation of girls’ education.
Just in February of this year, reports emerged from Grand Cape Mount County of a similar situation that led to several teenage girls dropping out of school.
The situation, according to our correspondent, caught the attention of the local authorities as well as teachers and parents in the county, who quickly raised the alarm by calling on the National Government through the Ministry of Education to address the crippling challenge.
So far, other counties in Liberia, despite the introduction of family planning pills by health authorities across the country, continue to report a proportionate number of teenage pregnancies, especially from school-going girls, particularly in the rural areas.
Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is a pregnancy occurring in a female under the age of twenty.
It is considered a significant social and health issue because it often involves unintended pregnancies that can have lasting impacts on the physical and economic well-being of both the mother and the child.