Teenage Girls Will Now Be Offered a GCSE Course in Parenting

April 15, 2009 by tiffanyb
Filed under: News, Pregnancy

Any teenage girl who is thinking about having a baby or is already pregnant will now be able to take a GCSE qualified course to learn basic skills of being a young parent. pregnant_teenager

Many parents are outraged now at the fact that their daughters and sons are now being offered a course that will teach them the ins and outs of being a young parent. This course will teach these teens who want to become pregnant or who already are, basic skills of caring for a newborn, healthy pregnancy advice, dealing with toddler tantrums, and other parenting advice.

Family campaigners have called this course “irresponsible,” especially since the UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe already. They are afraid that teens will see having a baby as an “achievement” instead of a life long commitment as being a parent.

The new plan will recognize the courses that are already being offered by the National Community Learning Partnership. The current classes are held at public places such as the YWCA and other training centers, but now that they are accredited by the GCSE, they will be offered in more places. Some actual schools may even start offering the classes if they have several students who are pregnant and want to take the course.

There are no age limits on the course and there have been girls as young as 12 who have taken the course. Students who take this course will achieve a level one qualification, equivalent to G to D grade standard at GCSE.

Pregnancies among teenage girls in the UK has been on the rise since 2002. More than 40,000 babies a year are born to teenage mothers in the country. Currently only about 1,000 of those girls attend the parenting courses offered by Edexcel. A spokesperson for these courses has said that that the teens who attend are more likely to have a healthy child and excel and move onto university and support their child.

But Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, says that this plan is “irresponsible” and will do the opposite of what it is intended to do. He says, “Awarding a qualification to pregnant teenagers and young parents sends out the message that having a baby while still at school is an achievements.”

He also goes on to say, “There is a danger that this kind of initiative could normalise illegal sexual activity and make it respectable for underage girls to have babies.”