71 girls drop out of school in Kanchibiya

OVER 70 girls in Kanchibiya have dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancies in 2021 alone, Member of Parliament, Sunday Chanda has disclosed.

Mr Chanda lamented that rampant teenage pregnan cies, early childhood mar riages and Gender Based Violence were the major contributing factors to high school dropouts in his constituency.

“It is regrettable that Kan chibiya has recorded 71 girls dropping out of school due to teenage pregnancies in 2021 alone. Teenage pregnancy is a major barrier to staying in school for young girls in rural areas, including Kanchibiya,” Mr Chanda said.

He noted that when girls became pregnant in Kan chibya, it was very challeng ing for them to continue their education and achieve their career goals.

Mr Chanda warned the schoolgirls that engaging in early sexual activity also ex poses them to sexually trans mitted infections (STIs) such as HIV, syphilis, herpes, gon orrhea and others.

He said a research had shown that girls in rural areas experience those challenges much more acutely than those in urban areas.

“The absence of board ing facilities for girls and boys within Kanchibiya fur ther exposes girls from far flung areas as they have to find temporary shelter near markets and bars as week ly boarders. This alone, is a driver as it exposes girls to all forms of vices such as casual and transactional sex, and gender-based violence,” Mr Chanda said.

He said the victims (girls) in rural areas also usually have no access to sexual re productive health services to prevent unplanned pregnan cies and STIs.