Boarding student delivers on campus, attempts to dump baby

A boarding student of Oyoko Methodist Senior High School (OMESS) in Koforidua has delivered a baby boy at a dormitory in the school.

According to sources, some of her mates heard a baby crying at dawn in the corridor of the dormitory.

They curiously moved out and to their surprise, the student was carrying the baby to allegedly dump it into a nearby latrine on campus.

They alerted the senior house mistress who rushed to the scene to take the baby and mother to the Eastern Regional Hospital.

They were admitted and have been discharged.

Management of the school has informed and invited parents of the Arts -one(1) student to a meeting for a decision to be taken for the collective good of both mother and baby.

Teenage pregnancy cases in the Eastern region continue to increase.

The situation worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when schools were shut down for nearly a year.

A total of over 10,000 teenage pregnancy cases were recorded in 2021 in the Eastern region, according to Ghana Health Service.

This has necessitated some interventions such as “back to school” where Ghana Education Service staff move to communities to encourage pregnant and teenage mothers to return to school.

In Akyemansa District for instance, the “Safe and Protective Environment for Adolescent Development (SPREAD)” project is being implemented in 40 rural communities in the district by Ark Development Organization (ADO), an NGO with support from UNICEF in partnership with Global Affairs Canada to curb alarming teenage pregnancy, assist pregnant students and teen mother’s return to school.

“Cross your leg;100% cross your leg” is a slogan coined to cause a behavioural change in that regard.

The project officer of Ark Development Organization, David Kwaning says 89 of 369 adolescent mothers recorded in 2020 have so far been identified for assistance to go back to school or enrolled in economic empowerment program or legal aid.

“Per what the Ghana Education Service gave us, we have about 369 adolescent mothers in the district as at 2020. So, we are to identify them and then assist them in three ways. Some of them have to go back to school, others too need justice ,other too need health assistance. So we have identified 89 of the Adolescent mothers” David Kwaning Project Officer said.

Meanwhile the NGO is initiating legal action against a man who took undue advantage of a 12 year old vulnerable girl who dropped out of school after her father died, exploited her in child labour, defiled and impregnated her.

The project has reached 1,577 out of target adolescents of 2000 with four months to end.