By Esther Akaa
A non-governmental organization (NGO), Teenage Network, has developed school re-entry guidelines for out-of-school adolescent mothers with the aim of providing them with a second opportunity to acquire a good education.
The guidelines for the education of adolescent mothers are also targeted at eradicating the stigmatization and discrimination against them in society.
Speaking on Wednesday during the stakeholders’ consultative meeting held in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, the project consultant and gender transformative education consultant, Joy Samuel Ebeben, said the guidelines were designed to reduce the structural barriers that prevent them from going back to school.
Ebeben explained that part of the structural barriers facing the young mothers leading to school dropout was stigmatization from both family members and friends, as well as the general society.
She said there was, therefore, a need for advocacy to stop the ugly trend so as to encourage them to re-enroll in schools.
“Once they get pregnant and they are out of school, most times there’s this stigmatization.
“Sometimes it’s not even the school that tells them that they should not come back to school, but they are afraid of being stigmatized.
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“This project objective is therefore to reduce the structural barriers that hinder adolescent mothers from going back to school.
“We will use the guidelines to enhance their return to school, she said.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of the Teenage Network, Olanike Timipa-Uge, said the stakeholder’s meeting was aimed at creating comprehensive guidelines for the re-entry of adolescent mothers into the formal education system in Nasarawa State.
The Executive Director, represented by the Programme Officer, Gladys Oghene, explained that the project, which started in 2022, has so far trained 16 adolescent girls as “Girls Education Champions” to lead advocacy for the re-enrollment of adolescent mothers into schools.
“We need to support the implementation of these guidelines as well as the need to carry adolescent mothers along for the development of education, she added.
Timipa-Uge appreciated the state government through the State Ministry of Education and other stakeholders for giving the organization support, calling on the government to review the document and approve it for the good of the people.
She urged mothers to prioritize the education of their children, especially their girl children, saying education was a key to success.
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Also speaking, the Director of Schools, Nasarawa State Ministry of Education, Igbone James Digocho, welcomed the initiative and appreciated Teenage Network for bringing such a good idea to the adolescent mothers in the state.
“Let them be welcomed back to school, and know that they still have hope. If yesterday did not know and yesterday died, today that knows will not die again,” he said.
He urged the people to work together to support the guidelines’ implementation and encourage adolescent mothers to return to school to begin learning again, as education was the panacea for national development.
In his remarks, the Executive Director of Beacon Youth Initiative, Emmanuel Okolo, who spoke on behalf of the Civil Society Organizations (CCSOs) in the state, commended the Teenage Network and her partners for initiating the program.
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Okolo said that the entry of girls and adolescent mothers into the formal education system was a step in the right direction and expressed optimism that the implementation of the project would benefit the people of the state.
He therefore urged Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in the state and government to be more proactive and responsive to policies that have a direct bearing on the people.
Some of the adolescent mothers, both from Assakio and Lafia North local government areas of the state, Peace Emmanuel and Sabatu Adeka, who spoke in an interview with journalists, said what happened to them was a mistake.
They therefore appealed to the government to intervene and provide them with the opportunity to resume their education.