By Jenneh Braima
UNICEF’S Child Protection Specialist in Education, Janet Tucker, has expressed concern about a possible high rate of teenage pregnancy when the Ebola outbreak would have been eradicated from the country.
She was responding to information reaching them about the large number of school girls becoming pregnant following the forced closure of schools as a result of Ebola.
She said they were happy about the radio learning programmes which she said would help keep the girls busy and encouraged parents to make sure their children, boys or girls, paid attention to the teaching.
The Child Protection Specialist noted that teenage pregnancy was one of the biggest challenges facing girl child education and observed that the fact the country’s economic activity had gone down was a stress for both parents and their daughters because the girls now go extra mile to help their parents.
She stated more women and girls had died of Ebola as they were the ones taking care of their sick relatives and expressed the fear that a good number of the girls would not be going back to school because of the effect of Ebola on their families.
The assistant director at the gender unit in the ministry of education, Ann Konneh, confirmed that there would indeed be an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies.
Before now, she said, girls were being sexually harassed by male teachers in their schools and other men outside school "but all that has just been increased hugely by the Ebola outbreak."
Konneh said the fact that most girls were from poor families and their parents used them to generate income for the home meant that men would take advantage of them.
She said most of them had also lost either or both parents to the Ebola disease and had no parent to take care for them, something she said was de-motivating factor to keep the girls away from school and lead them into early marriages.
She said they were also opened to risky abortions and sexually transmitted diseases.
© Politico 11/11/14
