Educating our wards, particularly our girls is one of the surest and most powerful ways to prevent teenage pregnancy and early marriages in Ghana.
It affords them the knowledge, skills and opportunities they require to build a stronger and better future. Putting girls through school does far more than just imparting academic knowledge but also reshapes the trajectory of a young person’s life.
This in effect helps delay the incidence of early marriages and helps reduce the likelihood of teenage pregnancy.
Early marriage in simple terms can be said to be marriage before age 18. It is most often than not arranged and against the will of the girls who fall victim to this act of cruelty.
Child hood marriages are widespread around the world and commonly seen in rural and marginalised areas of Africa.
Getting pregnant as a teenager and been forced into early marriage share some common grounds. Girls married off early are likely to become pregnant early, even before their bodies and minds are fully prepared and aligned with motherhood.
Education provides one of the most reliable avenues for acquiring basic health information with regards to reproductive health, puberty and family planning, helping young girls understand how their bodies are wired for them to make informed decisions.
Girls who stay in school again wield the tendency to delay their involvement in sexual activities. Going to school helps build and improve their confidence and critical thinking abilities. They decide for themselves when they want to marry and get pregnant.
It is worth mentioning however that, there are a number of socio-economic and cultural factors that fuels this twin problem of teenage pregnancy and early marriage.
Poverty and economic pressures remaining top on the list. Due to dire economic situation, most families struggle to pay for food, clothes and decent shelter.
Some find it even difficult to afford basic school materials like uniforms and books. Marrying off their young innocent girls for financial gains through the payment of bride price becomes the most lucrative and available option.
Early marriages and unwanted teenage pregnancies still thrive today because of the low value some societies have placed on girl child education.
Mostly in our rural settings, it is believed that, girl child education is a complete waste of time. In the sharp contrast to the high value placed on the education of the boy child, girls are relegated to the kitchen and farms and often married off to older suitors for economic gains.
This practice discourages girls from attaining higher educational statuses and reduces their interests in achieving future goals and aspirations.
In some societies, marrying off girls early is used to prevent perceived premarital relationships or shame.
To gain a higher family honour, reputation and social standing, young girls who should have been in school are given out for marriage when they are still virgins and deemed sexually pure.
To curb the closely linked crisis of child marriages and teenage pregnancies, government, civil societies and communities must implement a multi sectorial framework that is focused on legal enforcement and economic empowerment.
Government can through its ministry of education remove or absorb some if not all the major financial barriers to education and provide accessible scholarship facilities to vulnerable girls in deprived communities and equip out of school girls with some form of vocational training and employable skills to build financial self-sufficiency.
Authorities can also engage parents and community leaders in conversations about the long term benefits of girls’ education and provide easy access to menstrual hygiene resources to help curb this problem.
Enacting and enforcing minimum marriage laws, compulsory education policies and creating reporting hotlines and temporary safe havens for victims fleeing forced marriages can also help solve this problem.
We can also use mobile clinics and peer led clubs to distribute vital health information directly to vulnerable youths and introduce comprehensive sexuality education in schools to help the youth understand their reproductive rights and bodies.
Early marriages and teenage pregnancy are dual crises that feed into each other, trapping young girls into a cycle of diminished opportunities.
Eradicating these practices require more than just legal prohibition but a high demand of coordinated efforts to keep girls in school, dismantle harmful cultural norms and provide comprehensive reproductive education.
By shifting our focus from reactive measures to proactive empowerment, we can ensure that, a girl’s youth is defined by her education and potentials rather than her pre matured maternal responsibilities.
Protecting our girls is not just a moral obligation but an economic and social necessity for sustainable development.
The author is the CEO OF HANDS OF GOLD FOUNDATION.
BY MACCLEAN NORTEY
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