As part of the District and the Department’s comprehensive activities to prevent and respond to abuse, exploitation, violence and also to reduce the number of Teenage Pregnancy rate in the district, the Community development unit during the first quarter embarked on a field education on child protection and teenage pregnancy in selected basic schools within the Anyinam circuit.
The Basic schools included AME Zion School, Roman School, Faith School and Presby School.
The overall purpose of the education was to ensure that children are protected from abuse, violence and exploitation.
The specific objectives included the following aspects;
• Students understanding of the concept of child protection
• To highlight effect of teenage pregnancy in the community
• To develop good parent /child relationship
• To disseminate Department functions towards development in the district
A total number of nine hundred and seventy (970) students comprising of five hundred and forty (540) girls and four hundred thirty (430) boys were sensitized. In attendance were teachers and headmasters of the various schools and (4) officers from the Community Development Unit of the Atiwa East District Assembly
Prior to the education in the schools, the Community Development Unit contacted the district Director of education for approval of the exercise. After the approval, letters were distributed to the head teachers in the various schools to assist in the mobilization of the Junior High, lower primary and Upper Primary School pupils and also inform them about the department’s intention to educate them on child protection, domestic violence and Teenage Pregnancy.
The AME Zion basic school can be located near the Anyinam Clinic. The school has a total population of six hundred and five (605) pupils and a total number of twenty-three (23) teachers. Out of the Twenty-three (23) teachers, fifteen (15) are females and eight (8) of them are males.
On the 1st of March,2022, the community development unit paid a visit to the AME Zion school with the objective of sensitizing the pupils on child rights, parenthood, teenage pregnancy and domestic violence. The Social development officers who carried out the sensitization exercise considered the lower primary, upper primary and the Junior high school pupils.
Highlights of the presentation
The awareness creation exercise started at 9:00 am, Mr. Jacob Asiam Ayisi, Assistant Social Development Officer Introduced officers present. He went further to give a general overview of the Department. In his submission he stated that one of the mandates of the department is to educate pupils on issues that are affecting them in the society and to improve their social wellbeing. He also enumerated the functions and duties of the department and encouraged them to consult their teachers and also the officers if they had any challenges.
Mrs. Mavis Siawaa, a Senior Social Development Assistant took the turn to educate the pupils on teenage pregnancy and the effects on the society. In her submission, she mentioned some of the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy and informed the students that in recent years adolescent pregnancy had become an important health issue in the district as well as in the country. She urged the students to take their education seriously and be focused in life because teenage pregnancy has the potential to curtail the future of promising young girls in the society.
After the talk by the officers, the Assistant Social Development officer led the questions and answers session of the programme. the teachers expressed joy in the outcome of the programme and encouraged officers to organize such programmes often. The programme finally came to an end at 1:15pm.