Ms. Araba Ampah, Assistant Director, Ningo-Prampram District Assembly (NiPDA), said the Assembly has intensified efforts to eliminate teenage pregnancy, heightening school dropout rates in the district.
She said teenage pregnancy had been one of the major issues affecting girls’ education in the district.
Ms. Ampah, who doubles as the District Gender Desk Officer, was speaking at a mentorship programme organised by the Department of Gender for adolescent girls in the district.
She said the NiPDA Health Directorate was partnering a non-government organisation to help pregnant girls deliver safely, continue their education afterwards, or learn a vocation.
Ms. Ampah added that the district had seen a significant decline in teenage pregnancy and commended the Department of Gender for selecting and empowering the girls of the district for the mentorship programme.
She said sexual reproductive health education played a significant role in the lives of adolescents, stressing that it had helped in the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases.
She added that it was time sexual health education was championed in communities for the development and growth of Ghanaian youth.
Ms. Ampah appealed to all stakeholders, especially the Assembly members in the district, to get actively involved in the fight against teenage pregnancy and forced marriages through education for the development of the district.