MP advises parents to live up to responsibilities

The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Daffiama/Bussie /Issa Constituency, Mr Mathias Puozaa, has advised parents to live up to their parental responsibilities to help address the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy among adolescent girls in the area, which is making them drop out of school.

Addressing the first general session of the Daffiama/ Bussie/ Issa District Assembly at Issa last Friday, he said it was worrying that from January this year to date, 30 girls from primary five to junior high school form three got pregnant.

He lamented that the trend was rising but could not give statistics because the district had been carved out of the Nadowli-Kaleo District in 2012 and some records were with the latter district. Efforts by government 

The MP noted that it was regrettable that with all the efforts being put in place by the government  to improve teaching and learning, such cases continued to undermine the positive efforts to keep the girl-child in school, alleging that the boys and some teachers who were responsible for the pregnancy were moving about freely.

Mr Puozaa said he had invested a portion of his MP's Common Fund to enhance education and healthcare by the provision of logistics and equipment at the Daffiama Senior High School, the local health centre and the district office of the Ghana Education Service.

The MP advised the assembly members and the youth in the area to make use of the vast arable land in the constituency to create wealth for themselves by going into maize farming.

He also advised citizens abroad to come back to contribute to the development of the area, since it was a new one that badly needed support. Role of stakeholders

The Daffiama/ Bussie/ Issa District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Fidelis Zumakpeh,  said it was necessary for all stakeholders to realise the importance of education in national development and make conscious efforts to contribute in diverse ways to address such social issues that were inimical to the growth and development of the youth.

The Deputy District Director of Education, Mr Evans Kpebah, said by the rules of the Ghana Education Service, such pregnant girls would not be prevented from  continuing their education if they wished to continue.

He revealed that the area used to be one of the best when it was under the Nadowli-Kaleo District, but scored 47 per cent in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the 2013 academic year.