Child marriage hits Timmie Basic School

Ten girls from Timmie Basic School in the Sissala West District have been picked for marriage in the 2015/16 academic year.

Three of the victims are in form two, four in form one and one each in primaries three, four and six.

Mr Abu Meke Mahama, Assembly Member for Jawia and a Teacher of the School in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at the weekend said five of the girls are below 18 years of age.

He said two of the girls are pregnant while at school and were taken away for marriage and the rest forcefully picked by their husbands.

The Assembly man said a number complains by the teachers to the chief of the Community has not yielded results.

Mr Mahama said the chief said he does not want to create problems between his community and the localities responsible for the elopement.

He said some of the girls who report to the District Education Directorate and steps are taken to bring them back to school run back to their husbands.

The school’s population from kindergarten to form two is only 200 students, adding the school faces an imminent closure if the elopement continues.

Mr Mahama warned that if the community fails to take action to stop the situation, the teachers would write to the District Education Directorate for mass transfer.

Source: GNA