Youth refocuses after pregnancy

“Do not give up all hope and start thinking negatively; that there is no opportunity out there to better your life.”

This piece of advice comes from Niasha Stapleton, a 21-year-old past student of the Barrouallie Secondary School and the Technical College.{{more}} She is one of the students to benefit from the “Re-entry of Teenage Mothers into School” programme that started three years ago.

Niasha said the principal of her former school told her about the programme when she requested a recommendation for a job, and she jumped at the opportunity.

Though facing a number of challenges during the first year of re-entering school, Stapleton was able to prove to her community and the school that she had a purpose. She was successful in her CXC CSEC exams, obtained passes in eight subjects. From there, she went on to the Technical College where she studied business.

According to Niasha, when she graduated from the Barrouallie Secondary School, she was awarded for being the school’s most outstanding performer in the CXC exams and for participating in extra curricular activities such as public speaking and the RBTT Young Leaders.

The 2007 graduate of the St. Vincent Technical College told SEARCHLIGHT that even though the programme is a good one, some of the mothers do not use their second chance wisely and would often have a second pregnancy while they are in school. She also encouraged young ladies who are not sexually active to abstain and concentrate on aiming to achieve their goals in life and always strive to get a good education.

Niasha plans to work for a few months before going off to study in Jamaica next year. (SB)