Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GFGF) in collaboration with the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipal Assembly and the Ghana Education Service (GES) have launched an adolescent sexual reproductive health and development programme.
The programme which sought to address the high rate of teenage pregnancy cases recorded over the years among school children within Damang and Huni-Valley educational circuits was expected to be executed at a cost of GH￠70,000.00 annually for five years.
Speaking at the launch, which was held at Damang, Mr Charles Kofi Nti, the Acting General Manager, Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Damang Mine, explained that 120 students selected from 24 Junior High Schools in Damang and Huni-Valley circuits of education had been trained as peer educators.
“For upper primary, 174 peer educators from 29 schools have received training on adolescent reproductive health with emphasis on teenage pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI),” he continued.
Mr Nti mentioned that the foundation also sponsored the training of 58 teachers and facilitators as counselors for the various schools and supervisors for the peer educators.
He stated that during Parent, Teacher Association meetings, facilitators would be given the platform to encourage parents to monitor their wards and assist in addressing their sexual reproductive health and developmental concerns and provide their basic needs.
“Queen mothers and assembly members within the Damang Mines host communities have also been engaged to lead behavioral change activities in their respective communities”
“The overall objective of the programme is to achieve a 30 per cent drop in teenage pregnancies among school children in Damang and Huni-Valley Circuits by 2025,” the Acting General Manager announced.
Mr Robert Siaw, Regional Manager, Community Relations, Gold Fields Ghana, said the programme was in line with the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) commitments to improve upon education and health of residents within its operational area.
According to him, “the programme further demonstrates Gold Fields’ commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) three and four. Gold Fields has constructed a lot of schools but the quality of people using these buildings is so crucial. That is why we have invested heavily in this Programme”.
Mr Siaw appealed to their host communities to embrace the programme so they would help raise responsible future leaders to take over from them, adding that “in five years we would come back to review. I hope we are going to achieve the target that we have set for ourselves”
The Municipal Director of Education, Mrs Marvie Colerangle-Ashun, said “In 2019 during the Basic Education Certificate Examination, 45 of our students were pregnant, the figure rose to 69 in 2020 and 55 in 2021. It might marvel you to see the drop. When we realized the figure had increased in 2020, we put in a lot of interventions”.
She lauded Gold Fields Ghana Foundation for initiating the programme, adding, “it is our desire that the teachers, heads and students would take it seriously so that year in year out we would have peer educators who would assist their own groups to understand their personality to help them address their future aspirations”.
Dr. Isaac Dasmani, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Prestea Huni-Valley, indicated that, “the assembly would collaborate with GFGF to ensure that some of the people that they trained as peer educators are replicated in other schools so that their message would be disseminated across the whole Municipality.
He advised parents to draw closer to their wards especially the girl child so they don’t engage in any negative practice that would destroy their future
Teaching and learning materials for the programme, T shirts, school bags and sanitary pads were presented to the students and teachers in the beneficiary schools.
