The Ghana Education Service (GES) has instituted measures, including the training of a task force, to ensure pre-tertiary schoolchildren, particularly girls, return to school on resumption of academic activities.
The training of the “Back-to-School” task force at Wchiau in the Wa West District on Monday formed part of a “Back-to-School Advocacy Campaign” being spearheaded by the Girls’ Education Unit of the GES with support from UNICEF.
The training was also to disseminate the “Guidelines for Prevention of Pregnancy among Schoolgirls and Facilitation of Re-entry into School after Childbirth.”
GNAPS
The Upper West Regional Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Private Schools, Alhaji Dasaana N. S. Adamu, noted that the COVID-19 outbreak in the country could increase the number of school dropouts if steps were not taken to counter its impact.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo announced that schools would resume in January 2021 after they were closed down in March this year due to the outbreak of the pandemic.
Alhaji Adamu said the “Back-to-School” campaign, which involved regional and district teams, was to sensitise communities and schoolchildren to the need for them to return to school.
The two-day training covered areas, including the prevention of pregnancy and re-entry for girls, safe schools and COVID-19 protocols, interventions and emerging issues, among others.
Discipline
Alhaji Adamu entreated teachers and school authorities to employ positive disciplinary tools such as gifts and praises to entice the children rather than corporal punishment that could deter them from returning to school.
He said due to the long break, some children were engaged in activities that took away their interest in school and that any actions such as bullying and corporal punishment could keep them out of school.
Mr Nanyaa Comas, a representative from the Guidance and Counselling Unit of the GES, Upper West Region, observed that data from the Educational Management Information System (EMIS) showed that 346 schoolgirls in the region were reported to be pregnant during the 2018/2019 academic year.
That, he said, comprised 51 upper primary, 218 junior high school and 77 senior high school pupils and students.
Pregnancy
He said to prevent pregnancy among schoolgirls, there was the need to promote the GES position of “no sex” among schoolchildren, provide age-appropriate guidance and counselling for the children and collaborate with parents to supervise children both at home and in school, among others.
The participants identified school dropout, unsafe abortion and its attendant consequences and reinforcement of the poverty cycle in the family as some of the negative impacts of pregnancy among girls.
The 30-member task force was made up of representatives from the GES, the Department of Social Welfare, GNAPS, civil society organisations, traditional authorities and the clergy, among others.
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