Diapers replacing books in school bags

Attempts by Newsday to get current data on the prevalence of school pregnancies from the Ministry of Education were unsuccessful, as authorities are tightlipped about such occurrences. However, Manager of Student Support Services with the Ministry of Education, Steve Williams told Newsday that the figure could be anywhere, as in most instances, when a girl becomes pregnant, that girl is not under any obligation to report her pregnancy. He did admit however, that the occurrences of pregnancies among school girls could very well be an alarming figure.

In other countries, pregnant school girls are entitled to maternity leave once they become pregnant. In some instances once a girl becomes pregnant while still attending school, there are specialised programmes or individualised education plans and policies, where schools work out plans for students to continue their education after maternity leave.

In Trinidad and Tobago, according to Williams, though it is very rare for school girls to report their pregnancies, when a girl submits a report that she is pregnant, discussions are held with school authorities, the parents or guardians and the counsellor, if there is one, and descisons are made on the girl’s future on a case by case basis.

When asked about granting maternity leave and the length of time allotted to students once they have their babies, Williams explained that every student’s case is not treated as equal. “This is not a decision that is made just like that. There are several matters that should be taken into consideration; the health of the student, educational concerns, and the student’s socio-economic status or well-being. There are many concerns that are taken into consideration before decisions are made. The bottom line here is the welfare of the student who is pregnant and the welfare of the baby that she is carrying”, he explained.

There are assessments that are made which determines that a girl need to spend more time with the baby. We have to be careful to help the girl and the baby.

There are instances where we also refer the teenage mother to the child welfare league that runs a programme for teenaged mothers and discussions are held. Counselling is also offered after the baby is born to determine the best choices for the student and her baby,” Williams explained.

Ibis Gibson, Coordinator of Families In Action, has described the prevalence of school pregnancies as a terrible situation. She noted that teen mothers face a challenging future.

“We need to prevent teen pregnancy, but once it has happened we have to help these young women take care of themselves and their newborn,” she said.

Though she is not aware of any policy for girls becoming pregnant while still at school, she said there should be a policy in place. However, the goal should be to educate young girls on the responsibilities of having a child and not encourage them.

“I don’t know whether or not there is a policy, but there should be one. I have so many young girls coming in with pregnancies, a lot of them have had to drop out of school. Having a policy on school pregnancies does not make it okay for a school girl to become pregnant because there is need to place the emphasis on telling them to abstain from sex. We need to let them know that early pregnancies inhibits their progress,” Gibson explained.

“I think we should have more parenting programmes for young people when they become pregnant,” Gibson said.

“School girls who become pregnant have fewer opportunities for socio-economic advancement.

We need to tell them to think of their future because a lot of them have a lot of problems managing their children and managing themselves, and we see it happening everyday,” Gibson said.