The Ledzokuku Municipality in the Greater Accra Region recorded a total of 35 cases of teenage pregnancy between March 2020 and March 2021, a research conducted by the Municipal Education Directorate has revealed.
The study, which targeted two private basic schools, two public second cycle schools and 13 public basic schools in the Municipality, revealed that teenage and adolescent pregnancy was prevalent in Junior High Schools with 22 cases representing 63 percent of all reported cases, being recorded within the period.
Conducted in communities including; Teshie Maamli, Camp Two, Antewe, Tebiliano amongst others, the research also showed that Second Cycle and Primary Schools recorded seven and six cases respectively during the one-year period.
The research, made available to the Ghana News Agency in Tema, revealed that, “Teshie Old Town (Maamli) recorded the highest number of cases with nine cases representing 26 per cent followed by the Teshie Camp Two area recording three cases representing nine per cent; while the Antewe and Tebibiano areas both recorded two cases each representing six per cent; and 19 cases were recorded from other area representing 53 percent.”
The study, which employed quantitative research methodology with the administration of closed questionnaires through “WhatsApp” and school visitations, captured all pregnancy related cases with follow up visits to schools by the Municipal Guidance and Counselling Coordinator to verify and validate the accuracy or otherwise of the source of data.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused nationwide school closures on March 16, 2020 and affected 240 schools and 50,833 pre-tertiary pupils and students in the Ledzokuku Municipality; out of the number, 25,705 were girls representing 50.6 per cent of all pre-tertiary enrollment in the Municipality.
“Girls between the ages of 16 to 18 recorded the highest cases of 19, representing 54 percent; followed by age 13 to 15, nine cases representing 26 percent of the reported cases, while the least age range were those between 22 to 24, one percent, accounting for three per cent,” the study showed.
According to the research, out of the 35 cases recorded in the Municipality, 13 of the girls representing 37 per cent returned to school with either their pregnancies or after delivery, while six of them, representing 17 percent completed their studies by writing Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) and the West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
Unfortunately, an alarming 16 of the girls, representing 46 percent, dropped out of school and could not return to sit their final examination; and 80 per cent of the cases involved girls under 18 years.
Mrs Charity Willie-Doe, Guidance and Counselling (Safe School) Coordinator, Ledzokuku Municipal Education Directorate told the GNA in an interview at Tema that, the objective of the research was to raise awareness on the long-term impact of COVID-19-induced school closures on teenage and adolescent girls in the Ledzokuku Municipality, the challenges encountered by girls along the line and how to address those head-on.
She said, pregnancy related issues affected academic work negatively as affected girls found it difficult to go to school due to stigmatization and that mostly led to the high number of girls who dropped out of school.
According to her, girls who managed to go to school were also affected by “poor attendance to school by expectant mothers; increased tendency and likelihood to fail to graduate from secondary school and the likelihood of girls repeating a grade or level.”
Mrs Willie-Doe disclosed that some of the girls showed signs of emotional and psychological disturbances which were likely to affect their academic work, and said parents must be educated and encouraged to meet the psycho-social and financial needs of their girls while education on reproductive health and rights must be improved.
