Over 65 students, drawn from senior and junior schools,
recently concluded a one-day sensitisation workshop on Teenage Pregnancy and
children's rights. The workshop, held in Brikama College UK
Speaking on the importance of the workshop, the president of the association, Mr. Yerro Mballow, said children should know their rights and be able to distinguish between rights and privileges. He further said that children need protection and should be brought up properly since they are the future leaders of the country. Mr. Mballow disclosed that teenage pregnancy among schoolchildren occurs as a result of love for materials, peer influence and the importation of western culture. He added that there are a lot of teenage pregnancies now occurring in schools.
Mr Mballow also said that if parents or guardian's fail to bring up their children in the right way the children will end up failing woefully in life. According to him, the sensitisation is a replication of similar workshops, successfully conducted for students throughout the country.
For her part, the secretary of the association, Madam Mariama Badjie, said that teenage pregnancy and children's rights in schools are issues that require the utmost attention at national, regional and international levels. According to Madam Badjie, the leadership of NLD's is action-oriented. She said the workshop aims at enable students in schools to develop possible attitudinal behaviours.
Declaring the Training workshop closed, the vice president of the association, Mr Lamin Camara, thanked the NLD's for what he described as a timely move in the protection of children from teenage pregnancy. According to Mr Camara, the NLD's has set out members to address issues that cause barriers to the progress of schoolchildren's education. He therefore urged participants to utilise the knowledge gained during the workshop.
