Free SHS pregnancy – News has made rounds in the media that four female beneficiaries of the free Senior High School (SHS) policy are pregnant.
While the pregnancy story draws attention; the claim by Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa that students are getting pregnant as a result of the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme has led to massively mixed reactions in the media.
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The North Tongu MP claimed on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen hosted by Akua Boakyewaa Yiadom that the female students are becoming pregnant due to lack of supervision.
The pregnant students Okudzeto explained are some of those forced to rent rooms outside the school due to lack of accommodation brought about by the population explosion in SHS schools.
Following the implementation of the free education policy by the government, there have been widespread reports of challenges with students either studying under trees or eating in poorly ventilated dining rooms.
The so-called pregnant SHS girls whom Ablkwa said were living without the supervision of their parents, abused their freedom and landed themselves in the mess.
The politician blamed it all on the Free SHS policy which has caused massive congestion in schools, as the government has failed to provide accommodation for students.
Dr. Yaw Adutwum, Deputy Minister of Education, has described Ablakwa’s claims as laughable and ridiculous.
Speaking in an interview with Chief Jerry Forson, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM on Tuesday, 5 December, Dr. Adutwum said: It is “laughable that anybody will attribute the teenage pregnancy among the student to the Free SHS programme”
Such comments by the NDC loyalists he said, should be treated with the contempt it deserves as it only seeks to undermine the good intentions cum achievements of the government.
According to him, teenage pregnancy is a general problem in the society and should not be attributed to the irregularities existent in the implementation of the Free SHS policy.
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