Teenage pregnancy is increasingly becoming
alarming in the Kpandai District in the Northern Region. This is as a result of
outmoded traditional practices such as child betrothal, force marriage coupled
with high illiteracy and poverty rate in the area. The increasing phenomenon is
said to be hampering girl child education in spite of efforts by some
non-governmental organizations and stakeholders to curb it. A recent visit by
Fiila News’ Saaka Alhassan to the Bunyan Health Center in Kpandai revealed that
as at July this year, over eighty-nine teenage girls reported for antenatal
care. Madam Rahina Issahaku, a nurse in-charge of the Bunyan Health Center,
says some of the teenagers even get pregnant without knowing. Baanangli Rebecca
is a teenager who got pregnant at the age of sixteen when she was in JHS two
(2). Rebecca told Fiila News she regretted being pregnant at such a tender age
since her education was truncated. At the moment, the educational goals of
Rebecca and several other teenage girls in Kpandai, are likely to be shattered
as their families are financially challenged and unable to enroll them in
school again. Meanwhile,
the Kpandai District is considered as one of the less developed districts in
the Northern Region. Apart from this district, citizens of the Chereponi,
Saboba and Bunkprugu-Yunyoo Districts are also noted for early and force
marriages, practices which are believed to have negatively affected girl-child
education and women empowered in these areas. Several interventions by state
institutions and other charitable organizations towards addressing the canker
of teenage pregnancy over the years seems not to be yielding any sustainable
results.
Source:Saaka Alhassan
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