It is with relief that the nation heard on the weekend that the Government intended to restore money which had been cut from the budget of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation. That is good thinking on the part of Mrs Olivia ‘Babsie’ Grange who holds the women’s portfolio.

The cuts amounting to just $22 million had far reaching consequences — effectively closing three centres in Ulster Spring, Trelawny; Highgate, St Mary and Braeton, St Catherine which had catered for 500 teenage mothers.

Inevitably, the question is being asked: how could the Government have chosen to make such cuts in the first place given the obvious importance of the Women’s Centre and its outreach programmes for teenage mothers?

Indeed, this newspaper was among the first — having run the news story on our front page last Thursday — to urge a rethink by Government.

The truth though, as we pointed out then, is that the Government is between a rock and a hard place. It has no option but to make deep and very painful cuts, if it is to fulfil its obligations with multilateral lender, the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

So while the Women’s Centre Foundation will be spared — for now — we can be very sure that other vulnerable areas across the spectrum including welfare, health and education will feel the knife. This is a reality the society must steel itself to face.

Also, the society has a right to expect that the Government will apply careful thought as to social impact and consequences as it takes the hard decisions.

But there is another aspect to this Women’s Centre story with which we believe Jamaicans need to come to terms.

Traditionally, many if not most of our high schools have treated with this business of teenage pregnancy simply by shutting their doors to the affected girls. We suspect that the approach may have much to do with a perceptive negative effect on discipline and “morals” within schools.

Ms Beryl Weir, executive director of the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) says that by turning their backs on girls who become pregnant and refusing to re-admit them after they have given birth, schools are being “discriminatory” and may even be acting illegally.

This newspaper agrees that it makes good sense for the schools and the Ministry of Education to take a hard look at this issue. This is not an easy matter since teenage pregnancy is a traumatising event for all those involved and does carry a serious stigma.

A holistic attempt to reintegrate teenage mothers in the formal high school education system as a matter of government policy would require infinite care and discretion. But with the appropriate will at the relevant levels we believe it can be done.

And while we are at it, the society needs to seriously consider making condoms available in schools, using thoughtful and controlled protocols. At the very least, we believe, trained guidance counsellors in the school system should have the leeway to treat with vulnerable teenage students as they may deem appropriate in relation to the provision of condoms and other contraceptive tools.

This newspaper believes the value of such a programme in terms of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases far outweigh the age-old moralistic and religion-based arguments against.