35 Girls From 2 TAs in Salima Return to School in One Year
The girls in a training session.
Girls who were readmitted in School after being rescued from early marriage and others who gave birth at a tender age have hailed peer-to-peer talk as the best way of encouraging more of such girls to go back to school.
One of the girls Belinda Phiri from the area of Traditional Authority Mwanza told Zodiak online in Salima on the sidelines of youth Leadership training that after being readmitted in school she has managed to encourage fellow girls in a similar predicament to return to school and it is yielding good results.
"Most girls want motivation from their peers who have been readmitted in school so they can be encouraged to return to school because they think it is hard and almost impossible and this is working wonders," said Phiri.
Another girl currently in form 4 Menia Listard however says there is also a need for stakeholders to be making available financial resources as some are failing to further their education because of lack of school fees defeating the whole purpose of rescuing them from teen marriages and readmission.
"With support from Women Legal Resource Centre WoLREC, we were equipped with peer to peer talk skills which are proving to be the way to go if more girls are to be rescued from marriage and others who gave birth to return to school," Listard said.
Meanwhile, Youth Friendly health Services trainer Layton Devison Chithonje says a lot is desired to be done to prevent girls from teen marriages and pregnancies as it remains an issue in the lakeshore district and at the district hospital deliveries of such girls sometimes have serious complications.
"It has also been observed that most teens when pregnant are shy to go to hospitals for both ant metal clinics and delivery and chose to deliver at home thereby complicating matters." Lamented Chithonje.
WoLREC with support from IM Swedish is implementing a project aimed at readmitting girls in school according to project officer Amos Mlotha.
"In the past one year we have managed to rescue and initiated readmission in school of about 35 girls in the areas of Traditional Authority Mwanza and Maganga in Salima," Mlotha said.
Salima is said to be among the district with high cases of teen pregnancies and early marriages attributed to culture it being a lakeshore district.
Last modified on Monday, 02/08/2021
