Mass pregnancy hits St. Mary’s Girls SHS; 15 students now pregnant – Headmistress laments (Video)

The high number of teenage pregnancies among students at St Mary's Girls Senior High School in Konongo in the Asante Akyem Central Municipality of the Ashanti Region, according to school officials, is impeding the future of females there.

They assert that the circumstance has grown into a significant developmental issue and have urged all interested parties to assist in finding solutions in order to improve the youth's future.

Speaking to Simon Opoku Afriyie of Otec FM, the school's headmistress, Madam Alice Martha Adjei, disclosed that a recent report indicates that 15 students are pregnant, with 4 final-year students, 10 form-2 students, and 1 newly admitted student all confirmed to be expecting for the 2023 academic year.

She disclosed that four of the total were continuing students and the remaining were in their final year of study.

She asked parents and guardians to support the efforts made by the schools to stop the problem as she voiced her serious concern over the rising number of adolescent pregnancies at school.

"It was intolerable that young girls were becoming pregnant at such a young age, interrupting their academic careers and missing out on economic prospects, which increased the vicious cycle of poverty and illiteracy, among other things."

infrastructure difficulty

Nonetheless, the headmistress blamed the issue on the school's infrastructure problems.

The school has had significant infrastructure issues since it opened, which, in my opinion, have exacerbated a number of the issues pupils are currently facing, including the threat of adolescent pregnancy.

"The school's fencing has been a huge setback because it allows children to leave whenever they want without sufficient parental or instructor monitoring."

"The circumstances allow the kids to act however they choose, which causes many to experience the issue of adolescent pregnancy."

She continued by saying that, in addition to other issues, encroachment on school property is impeding the development of the school and made a plea for funding to fence it in order to stop people from using it as a path.