Do not dismiss pregnant girls from school 96 District Director

Mumford (C/R), Feb. 24, GNA - The District Director of Education for Gomoa West, Mrs Augusta Akyaa Sarpong has cautioned heads of schools agains= t dismissing girls, who become pregnant during schooling. "Pregnancy must not terminate the education of girls," Mrs Akyaa Sa= rpong declared, in a speech delivered on her behalf, during a presentation of school uniforms to children at Mumford.

The Education Director said the girls must be allowed to attend school till they deliver, and must be allowed to return. She said such girls must be allowed to return to school whilst their mothers of relatives took care of their children. She however cautioned that her directive must not be used as a licence to indulge in promiscuity. She cautioned parents against settling cases of pregnancy at home, stressing that, she would personally ensure that such parents were arrested and prosecuted.

The education director warned teachers to stay away from the school girls, stressing that, any teacher caught having an amorous affair with a school girls would be dismissed.

She urged heads of schools to report pregnancy cases to her office, to enable her to monitor how such cases would be handled. Nana Kwame Arhin, Gomoa West Constituency Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) expressed concern about parents who attacked teachers for punishing their children.

He said such attitudes does not encourage teachers to give of their best and also refuse to be posted to such areas. Mr Ebenezer Adoko, Headmaster of the school, said the school was experiencing classroom and accommodation problems in the Catholic Primary =91A' and 91B' schools.

He cautioned that if an immediate solution was not found, the heads would not be able to take fresh admissions next academic year. He said the school's enrolment now stood at 1,700 and appealed to th= e Social Investment Fund (SIF) to impress upon the contractor to complete the six-unit classroom block, which was awarded about two years ago. According to Mr Adoko, the building, which was now about 70 percent completed, had become a hide out for hoodlums.