Pregnant schoolgirls should be allowed back in school after giving birth, says executive director of the Barbados Family Planning Association (BFPA), George Griffith.
He told the DAILY?NATION that there was no evidence to suggest having a teenage mum back in the school would have a negative impact on her classmates or the school. To this end, he has called for the readmittance of teen mothers to school to be regulated by authorities.
“It is still lamentable that a young girl who becomes pregnant must leave school and that there is no guarantee that she is going to be able to get back into school. In a number of instances, it is left entirely up to the principal, and very often she is transferred to another school . . .
“I believe we have to put the interests of our young people before a lot of the form that exists in Barbados today, where people think that somehow a pregnant schoolgirl will contaminate the remainder of the school.
Last year, there were 164 births to teenagers with 15 of them to 15-year-olds, according to official statistics.
Griffith said parents needed to step up to the plate.
“Parents must do effective parenting, and we must also invest in training parents to understand what is in the best interests of their children,” he said.
Griffith had the support of regional director for the International Planned Parenthood Federation for the Western Hemisphere, Carmen Barroso, who expressed similar views over the weekend at the BFPA’s annual general meeting.
