Deputy Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of Education, Mr. Thompson Asare, has asked parents to give every needed support to pregnant school girls to continue their education.

They should not be stigmatized and there should be no reason for any such pupil or student to drop out of school and abandon their academic dreams, just because they are carrying a pregnancy.

He was speaking at a workshop on sexual reproductive health held for selected journalists in Sunyani.

It was organized by the Global Media Foundation (GLOMEF), a human rights and anti-corruption organization, to empower the participants to report accurately on sexual reproductive health issues to enable the people to make the right decisions.

Mr Asare expressed discomfort about the growing rate of teenage pregnancy in the region, a situation that was forcing many of the adolescent girls out of school and said the trend should not continue.

He said the expectation was that parents would stand behind these teenagers every step of the way and provide them with everything they would need to pursue academic careers.

Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Chief Executive Officer of GLOMEF, appealed to the media to spearhead the campaign for legalization of abortion in the country.

That, he said, was the way forward to stop young girls from resorting to unsafe abortion, which from available statistics, accounted for 13 per cent of maternal deaths.

Mr. Ahenu pointed out that bringing down abortion-related complications was one of the surest ways to reduce maternal mortality.