- The MP said the girls will be frequently counselled on how to continue with their lives.
- A breastfeeding hall will be set up at the school.
Plans are in top gear to set up a special high school for girls who dropped out in Ganze because of pregnancy.
Ganze MP Teddy Mwambire on Wednesday said education stakeholders intend to convert Kafuloni Secondary School into a model high school for teen mothers. It will be built through the Ganze NG-CDF.
“Girls who get pregnant and decide to go back to school after delivery are often stigmatised in the mainstream secondary schools and that's why we want to build a secondary school where admissions will only be done to those who got pregnant while in school and are willing to continue with their education,” Mwambire said.
The MP said the girls will be frequently counselled so they can continue with their lives undisturbed by their previous actions. A breastfeeding hall will be set up at the school.
“Our community victimises girls who get pregnant at a tender age. This has made many girls feel like outcasts in the community. We want them to get full-time counselling while at school so that they do not feel like getting pregnant is the end of their lives,” Mwambire said.
"We want to rekindle hope in these girls. We want them to have a future they can look up to. We do not want a situation where they will be desperate to the point that the only thing they see is marriage to older men. We want them to have a focus in life. We want them to understand they can start all over again.”
James Katana, a resident of Vitengeni, said the school will rescue many girls who are shy to rejoin their previous schools. He said most girls give up on life after getting pregnant.
“This is a good idea because most of the girls who get pregnant fear going back to the school they were studying. Some are married off and after some time they are divorced and go back to their parents where they are mistreated by relatives,” Katana said.
Kafuloni Secondary was started in 2012 as a mixed school. It was, however, abandoned last year after most of the classrooms were blown off by heavy winds.
The school will be the third girls' school in Ganze after Mwangea and Ganze secondary schools.
Ganze NG-CDF office is also in the process of building three more girls' high schools in Mayowe, Kachororoni and Bamba.
“Finally, Ganze constituency will have Mwangea, Ganze, Mayowe, Kachororoni, Bamba and Kafuloni as girls' boarding secondary schools. I am confident this will bolster the education standards in Ganze," the lawmaker said.
Edited by Henry Makori