President of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Mrs. Wilhelmina Akleku, has renewed calls for the introduction of a Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Program in Ghana’s education curriculum.
According to her, an introduction of sex education in the schools will help train and educate children about their sexual life at a very tender age.
The PPAG boss raised these concerns at a ceremony in Tamale to mark this year’s International Day Celebration of the Girl Child under the theme, “My Voice Our Equal Future”.
“Men have to think twice because you have a family in your house and you go about following school children just with a takeaway pack.
“The men then lure these children just because they are also hungry, they are always following you because of the food and they misuse them” she lamented.
She said social reproductive health and rights education will help educate these young girls to be at ease and grow to be responsible citizens.
“PPAG came out with a program on sexual reproductive health that GES got involved with but some time last year, everybody begun to give interpretations of what actually happened. It killed the program” Mrs. Akleku added.
Mrs. Akleku indicated that CSE is one of their key programs to educate children from their youthful age and teach them how their body works, and how to realize that they have become adults.
She said plans are underway to resurrect the subject and added that it is a good program for everyone in the country to train their children on how to comport themselves.
“After all, the youth of today do a lot of research work and so you cannot pin them down” Mrs. Akeku said
She also added that they are also collaborating with stakeholders to get the program rolled out.
Mrs. Akleku called for the education of parents about the social reproductive health and rights of their children, adding that people should also target their neighborhoods to spread the education on reproductive health.
The event brought together several teenage girls who were educated and sensitized on child and forced marriages, family planning methods for young girls, HIV test, teenage pregnancy, female genital mutilation, among others.