COVID-19: 547 pregnancies recorded in secondary schools in Benin

A total of 547 pregnancies were recorded in secondary schools of Benin’s northeastern department of Borgou during the 2019-2020 school year, the Beninese news agency (ABP) reports.

Thomas Adam, a Representative of the child protection department of Secondary education and professional and technical training ministry, disclosed the number increased as against 431 cases in 2018-2019 school year, due to the long cessation of classes observed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Although no strategy linked to the phenomenon has been made public, several analysts of the Beninese society fear that the crisis linked to the COVID-19 affected the measures taken to eradicate early pregnancies in schools.