Schoolgirls get pregnant over holidays
The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture is urging parents to take care of their daughters during school holidays, as most teen pregnancies are reported a few months after school breaks.
Speaking to Nampa recently, the deputy director in the ministry's HIV/Aids Management Unit, Julius Nghifikwa, said they had observed that girls are getting pregnant during holidays when they are away from schools and in their parents' care.
“Children get pregnant while at home, especially [during] the December holiday and the few months of the first term of the academic year. We count a lot of pregnancies in learners [early in the year],” he said.
Nghifikwa said this was because parents did not keep track of where their children were.
“Some parents are not really taking care of their adolescent girls. They are hardly there. Some because of work and others are just not there,” he said.
He urged parents and the community to take responsibility for protecting, engaging and guiding girls so that they could make informed decisions.
“Young girls are engaging in drugs and alcohol use and this is becoming a problem and a major factor in pregnancy. We therefore need parents and community engagement at a family level,” Nghifikwa said. According to the ministry's most recent statistics, 1 843 schoolgirls fell pregnant in 2015 and 2 233 in 2016. Ohangwena topped the chart for the last two years with 551 pregnancies in 2016 and 349 in 2015, followed by Omusati with 319 in 2016 and 282 in 2015.
NAMPA
Speaking to Nampa recently, the deputy director in the ministry's HIV/Aids Management Unit, Julius Nghifikwa, said they had observed that girls are getting pregnant during holidays when they are away from schools and in their parents' care.
“Children get pregnant while at home, especially [during] the December holiday and the few months of the first term of the academic year. We count a lot of pregnancies in learners [early in the year],” he said.
Nghifikwa said this was because parents did not keep track of where their children were.
“Some parents are not really taking care of their adolescent girls. They are hardly there. Some because of work and others are just not there,” he said.
He urged parents and the community to take responsibility for protecting, engaging and guiding girls so that they could make informed decisions.
“Young girls are engaging in drugs and alcohol use and this is becoming a problem and a major factor in pregnancy. We therefore need parents and community engagement at a family level,” Nghifikwa said. According to the ministry's most recent statistics, 1 843 schoolgirls fell pregnant in 2015 and 2 233 in 2016. Ohangwena topped the chart for the last two years with 551 pregnancies in 2016 and 349 in 2015, followed by Omusati with 319 in 2016 and 282 in 2015.
NAMPA
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