The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) says 51 children got pregnant in just one district between the months of March and May last year.
The situation, according to GNAT, is attributed to the onset of COVID-19 which forced all schools to go on complete shutdown.
GNAT’s assertion is supported by the World Vision International, which identified that the Krachi West District recorded 51 teenage pregnancies and attributed same to the lockdown.
After almost 10 months of staying at home, many children are expected to return to school on Monday, 18th January, 2020 after President Akufo-Addo directed all schools to resume full academic work.
The General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Thomas Musah said per the Ghana Living standard Survey, approximately 651,000 four-year-olds are children waiting to go to school on Monday and they cannot afford to stay home for a long time.
“We have the issue of teenage girls who got pregnant in one district. 51 girls got pregnant between March and May and if we don’t take time and they all stay in the house the danger is there. If we don’t take time COVID will compound the already complicated issue we have on our hands so we have to do whatever we can to get the children back to school”.
Mr. Musah was speaking on the Sunrise Morning Show, which was hosted at the Junction mall at Nungua as part of the “Return to School Fair” organized by Media General.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers also noted that many children have gone into child labour during the schools’ closure.
According to Musah, one of the key recommendations made to the District Directors of Education is to listen to the teachers and not issue obnoxious directives.
GNAT is of the view that it is worried about children who will go to the schools and not observe safety protocols may contract the virus and that would affect an entire family.