Three lactating mothers with their babies have reported for the first-year programme at the Gowrie Senior High School in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region.
Two of the lactating students have rented rooms outside of the school premises, and intermittently go there to breast feed their babies when the need arises, while the third student, according to school authorities, leaves her baby at home during classes hours.
This phenomenon has been recorded in other SHS in the Upper East Region and among them are two lactating mothers in their second year in the Bolgatanga Girls Senior High.
Pregnant students are also allowed to stay on campus.
The situation was revealed at an engagement meeting of traditional authorities organised by the Water Resources Commission to discuss integrated water resource management issues, and the situation of the Vea Dam where the school’s wastewater flows into the dam.
Ms Elizabeth Paaga, the Headmistress of the school complained about the absence of a fence wall which she said made administration very difficult.
She further expressed worry about the numerous exit points of the school and said about 21 exits had been identified by the school and it was becoming difficult to control movement of students before and after school hours, while motorbike riders, tricycle drivers and pedestrians freely used these exits.
She therefore appealed to the Chiefs of the area to release land for the fencing of the school, to curb indiscipline.
Ms Paaga also appealed for the construction of more dormitories since the lack of the facility compelled the school to accommodate boys outside of its premises.
The Headmistress also appealed to the Chiefs to use their positions to advocate for increase in sex education among families whilst the school did its part, since teenage pregnancy was high in the area.
In an interview by the Ghana News Agency on the effectiveness of guidance and counseling at the school level, she stated that it was well incorporated into the educational system for the development of the students.
She said sex education was scheduled for twice a week and students either received guidance and counseling from their teachers individually or in groups.
Ms Paaga, said with a student population of over 2,000 and 103 teaching staff, water was a major challenge in the school and indicated that constant shuts of the taps in the area gave the students the opportunity to go into the communities in search of water.
About 30 per cent of the students were day students, she added.
