SHS lactating mothers report for first year in school at Gowrie

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Bongo (U/ER)-Ghana, March 21, GNA – Three lactating mothers with their babies have reported for the first-year programme at the Gowrie Senior High School in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region.
Two of the lactating students have rented rooms outside of the school premises, and intermittently go there to breastfeed their babies when the need arises, while the third student, the school authorities say, leaves her baby at home during class hours.
This situation has also been recorded in other SHSs in the region, among them being two lactating mothers in their second year at the Bolgatanga Girls Senior High.
Pregnant students are also allowed to stay on campus.
This was revealed at a meeting of traditional authorities organised by the Water Resources Commission to discuss integrated water resource management issues, and the Vea Dam blockade due to maintenance works on the canals and laterite, as well as how to stop the Gowrie SHS’s wastewater from flowing into the dam to pollute it.
It was also to discuss with the school, which is a technical school, how to bring its expertise on board to find a permanent solution to the problem.
Ms Elizabeth Paaga, the Headmistress of the school, complained about the absence of a fence wall, which she said made administration very difficult.
She expressed worry over the numerous exit points of the school and said about 21 exits had been identified, making it difficult to control movement of students before and after school hours, while motorbike and tricycle riders, and pedestrians freely used those exits.
She, therefore, appealed to the chiefs to release land for the fencing of the school, to curb indiscipline, while urging them to advocate sex education among families in coordination with the school, since teenage pregnancy was high in the area.
Ms Paaga appealed for the construction of more dormitories since the lack of it compelled the school to accommodate boys outside its premises.
In an interview by the Ghana News Agency on the effectiveness of guidance and counseling at the school, she stated that it was well incorporated into the educational system students’ development.
Sex education was scheduled twice a week and students either received guidance and counseling from their teachers individually or in groups.
With a student population of over 2,000 and 103 teaching staff, water was a major challenge for the school, Ms Paaga said, and that constant shuts of the taps gave the students the opportunity to go into the communities to search for water.
About 30 per cent of the students are day students.