THE Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) has existed now for almost three decades, schooling within that time more than 30,000 pregnant teenagers whose high school education would otherwise have been disrupted.

The foundation also boasts a success rate of 80 per cent, according to executive director Beryl Weir, who says most of its students are re-integrated into high schools and go on to graduate.

Because of the transitional nature of the WCJF, the number of girls enrolled at the centre varies, but can range up to 1,500 per year, says Weir.

Last year, 705 students from the centre returned to high school after they had their babies; in 2004, some 532 girls were re-integrated.

The school, which operates islandwide and is the only one of its kind in Jamaica, reflects the type of programme that anti-abortion pro-child advocates say the state and interest groups should offer as alternatives to pregnancy terminations.

The local head of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop Lawrence Burke, points, as example, to the Mustard Seed Communities, a church charity which offers pregnant women the option of learning a skill while they carry their babies to term.

But: “We need a lot more of those programmes,” he acknowledged in an interview earlier this month with the Sunday Observer.

Three decades ago when teenage girls became pregnant, most of them were thrown out of school, often leaving them with few options for finding employment later, and putting them at risk for subsequent pregnancies.

But in 1978, government established the Women’s Centre Programme for Adolescent Mothers on Trafalgar Road in Kingston, offering teens the chance to continue their education during and after pregnancy.

In 1991, the programme, now under the portfolio of the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, gained ‘foundation’ status, and became the WCJF.

The WCJF now offers regular high school curriculum – six hours per day, four days per week, to pregnant girls under age 17, and coaches those who are at the required level in the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) school-leaving exams.

Those below graduation age are reintegrated into regular school after giving birth.

“The mandate of the centre is to provide education, training and counseling for the girls here,” said Weir. “We provide counseling education for them and then place them back into a high school after they have the child.”

The girls, she said, have performed well over years with 61.3 per cent CXC passes last year from among 38 students who sat the exams, and 60 per cent in 2004 from among 16 candidates.

Additionally, Weir said the centre also tries to work with the parents/guardian of the girls to ensure that they understand that, legally, they are still responsible for the welfare of their daughters who are still minors.

To be accepted as a student at the WCJF, Weir says the teenager must have been enrolled and attending school when she got pregnant.

Registration is $1,000; enrollment is voluntary, and is normally done by recommendation to the centre by the school’s guidance counselor.

The centre has a few cases where the girls sought out the programme on their own.

Girls who are co-habiting with their partners do not qualify for entry.

“Most of the girls who come here were not aware of their pregnancies until someone told them,” said Weir, “or they are in denial and refuse to accept the pregnancy because it means that they are going to be in trouble with the adults in their lives.”

The age of sexual consent in Jamaica is 16, but the average age of the partners of the teens at the centre, according to Weir is 23 to 25 years, and most of the girls are from lower income communities.

Weir points out that few of the pregnancies resulted from ‘rape’, suggesting that the sex was consensual.

However, persons who have sex with children under 16 are subject to criminal prosecution, because those children cannot legally consent to intercourse.

“One of the challenges we have is identifying a rape case – whether it is by rape or other circumstances,” said Weir.

While the school provides academic classes for the students in areas such as mathematics, English and history, the students are also schooled in childcare, and family planning as well as practical skills.

The girls are strongly encouraged to ensure that their babies are properly immunised, and the centre takes the majority of the mothers on their first visit to the clinic.

“The girls get independent and group counseling to boost their self awareness and self esteem,” Weir said.

“We try to create in them a mindset that is going to cause them to be more focused when they get back to school.”

After the girls deliver their babies, they are encouraged to continue at the centre for one school term, which lasts three months, before they go back to high school.

During this period, the babies are cared for at the centre’s nursery free of cost – very few of the girls give up their babies for adoption – and the new mothers are counselled for integration, which includes a heavy sell for contraception usage.

“This has contributed to the reduction in second pregnancies,” said the WCJF executive director, referring specifically to her girls.

In fact, Weir claims a ‘second pregnancy rate of less than two per cent’ among her charges, compared to the national rate of near 25 per cent, according to 2003 figures.

Then some 1,474 teenagers got pregnant a second time of the more than 6,000 teens captured in the National Productive Health Survey.

Contributing to the low repeat pregnancy rate is the two-year monitoring that the centre does of the girls who pass through its programme.

“We advice them to admit that they have a child because we realise that if they do that then the students will leave them alone,” she said.

“We also encourage the parents to support their children during this time.”

Despite its successes, the centre and its programme are often frowned on.

“It is still taboo because people feel that this programme encourages teens to get pregnant,” said Weir.