The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, in partnership with the Ebonyi State government has said that they are reforming 38 out-of-school teenagers who became pregnant during their junior secondary school.
The state Master Trainer, Mrs Elizabeth Okereke made the disclosure during the Women August meeting, at Ezzamgbo, Ohaukwu Council Headquarters.
Okereke stated that the out-of-school teenagers were from the three local government areas of Abakaliki, Ikwo and Ohaukwu Council area.
She advised parents to maintain good communication with their female children, especially at an early age, describing poor communication as the greatest challenge faced by teenagers, who in turn end up with early pregnancy.
“We are talking about the parent-child relationship which is our second project in Ebonyi State.
“From our previous project, we discovered that most of the challenges faced by teenagers who got pregnant during their early secondary school years are because of poor communication with their parents.
“We are calling on parents to report any teenager who got pregnant at an early age without writing their JSS3 exam.
“We are integrating them to go back to school and we do that by identifying them and securing their contacts to ensure that they start school this September.
“The implication of them not going back to school is that they’ll grow and become poor and the society will be poor at large,” Okereke added.