Gender Ministry educates deaf, blind students on reproductive health

Hundred students of the Cape Coast School for the Deaf and Blind in the Central Region have been sensitised to responsible sexual behaviours.

The students have also been encouraged to stay chaste and live exemplary lives.

This was at a summit organised by the Central Regional Department of Gender, an entity under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, with support from the United Nation’s Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Central Regional Coordinating Council at Cape Coast in the Central Region.

The participants were taken through topics including Sexual and Reproductive Health, Sexual and Gender based violence as well as Hepatitis B.

Inclusiveness agenda

The Central Regional Director of the Department of Gender, Richlove Amamoo, in her remarks, indicated that since 2021, the department had been educating and engaging persons with disabilities in the region as part of its inclusiveness agenda to ensure no one was left behind.

She indicated that the effort was to also get many more persons with disabilities to access information on reproductive health issues.

Ms Amamoo added that the high rate of teenage pregnancy in the region had reduced steadily over the past few years, saying it was a positive indicator.

She advised the students to focus on their education and respect their parents at home as well as strive to achieve their aspirations.

She also entreated them to report issues of sexual and gender-based violence to the police, elders in their communities or heads of the school for the appropriate action to be taken.

Ms Amamoo further encouraged them to report teachers who try to take advantage of the adolescent girls.

Gratitude

The headmaster of the school, Abraham Annang Yemoson, expressed gratitude on behalf of the students and staff of the school for the programme.

He noted that although preventive and precautionary measures had been put in place, it was known that some older students sometimes engaged in sexual activities.

 The assistant headmistress in charge of academics, Regina Essilfie, said the education programme was laudable, adding that it would impact their choices and behaviour.