The Amansie Central Secretariat of the National Service Scheme, is partnering the district's branch of the National Service Personnel Association (NASPA) to whip up reproductive health and sexual education amongst Junior High School (JHS) students in the district.
Mr. Abdullai Abdul-Razak, the acting District Director of the Secretariat, said this was being done with assistance from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to reduce to the barest minimum the high incidence of teenage pregnancies and related consequences in the area.
"We have observed over the years that the propensity at which a teenage girl in the Amansie area is likely to get pregnant is high due to the prevalent mining activities, lack of sex education, poverty and illiteracy, amongst others," he said.
Mr. Abdul-Razak, who was addressing a seminar at Jacobu in the Ashanti Region, said the situation exposed innocent young girls not only to health hazards, but "their very future is also at risk."
He said in pursuance of this noble mission the Secretariat had divided the service persons engaged in the reproductive health education outreach programme, into zones for effective work.
"The programme is designed to expose the teenagers to the inherent dangers of early sex".
He called on the youth to avail themselves to government programmes intended to empower them such as the 'Planting for Food and Jobs' Programme, instead of engaging in illegal mining.
Mr. Yankey Ebenezer Opoku, the NASPA President for the district, said nothing could be substituted for education.
He urged the youth in the district to take keen interest in education to help enhance their literacy level for a meaningful life.