Teenage pregnancy and its attendant child/early marriages are on the increase in Yizie, a farming community in the Wa West District due to lack of electricity in the area.
This is because school children in the community use night studies as an excuse to visit their friends in other communities where there is electricity and end up getting pregnant and eventually marrying at early ages.
Madam Vuurako Yelbienaa, a resident of the community, revealed this to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), in an interview at the community and revealed that over 15 girls in the community, had become pregnant due to the lack of electricity with some of them giving birth while others were currently married.
“A lot of schoolgirls in this community have given birth. Some of them are good in academics, but while searching for light to do homework or study at night, they become pregnant and drop out of school.
“Four of my husband’s brother’s children are also pregnant. One of them has already married at Bankpama (a neighbouring community with Yizie). If there is electricity in this community, maybe they would not become pregnant and drop out of school,” Madam Yelbienaa lamented.
She indicated that parents in the Yizie community could not afford dry cells for the flashlight or lamps regularly for their children to study, which compelled them to move to other communities to access electricity to learn.
The residents said the situation was affecting the education of their wards at the community and was pushing many children, especially females out of school.
Mr Seare Samson, another resident, observed that teachers posted to the Yizie community refused to stay in the community because there was no electricity.
A visit to the community revealed that high tension electricity cables passed through the Yizie community to Bankpama and Tanvaare but the Yizie community had not been connected to the national grid.
Mr. Peter Igaah, the Assembly Member for the Sigri Electoral Area, told the GNA that there were eight communities in his electoral area but only three had electricity.
The Assembly Member, therefore, joined the Yizie community members to make a passionate appeal to the government through the Wa West District Assembly to consider connecting the Yizie community to the national grid to enable children to have access to quality education.
Access to education by every Ghanaian child is an unalienable right guaranteed by the 1992 Republican Constitution and there should be no impediment to enjoying this right.
Similarly, Goal 4 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enjoins the government of Ghana to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.
Target 4.1 of the Goals demand that “By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.”
However, achieving this target by 2030 would be a mirage if the government of Ghana did not put in efforts and measures to remove the barriers to access to education, including creating a conducive environment for learning in school and at home especially at the rural levels.
Source: GNA
