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Teenage Pregnancy is obstructing girl-child education in the Asutifi South District of Brong-Ahafo Region.

Available data from the District Directorate of Education shows that though the net enrolment rate for Junior High Schools (JHS) in the area in 2014 stood at 46.7 per cent, completion rate was only 66.2 per cent.

Mr. Kwame Afram Denkyira, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Programme Officer of Action Aid Ghana, a non-governmental organization disclosed on Wednesday.

Speaking at a career fair for some basic school children at Hwidiem, the District capital, Mr. Deknyira said the statistics is an indication that two out of every 10 girls dropped out before completing JHS.

It was organized by the Centre for Maternal Health and Community Empowerment (CMCE), an NGO, working to promote, especially girl-child education in the District with support from Action Aid.

The more than 150 students, who benefited from the fair, were drawn from Ampemedi JHS, Nkrankrom Methodist JHS, Nkrankrom D/A JHS, Hwidiem JHS and Amanfrom JHS.

According to Mr. Denkyira, four out of every 10 children, who start basic education drop out of school before they get to the final year of JHS.

He said most of the girls’ drop out of school early because of teenage pregnancy, and called on all stakeholders to assist in bringing the situation under control.

Mr. Denkyira emphasized that children’s right to education was among the fundamental human rights enshrined in most of the international documents, which had been ratified by the state and could be found in the 1992 constitution.

He noted that the “Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda II” also stressed on providing quality education for all children, and called on all Ghanaians to collaborate to ensure its fullest realisation.

Mr. Mahama Salaam, the Executive Director of the CMCE explained that the career fair was instituted about four years ago to expose students of 12 JHSs in the District to various career opportunities.

He said about 510 school children had so far benefited from the fairs, which also guided the youth to develop their talents.

Mrs. Theresah Kyere-Boakye, the Asutifi South District Director of Education, commended the organisers for the fair, and asked the students to critically assess their academic performance before choosing a particular career.