and the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture to tackle the issue together. The youth counselors explained that the focus must be on sex education at school.

Anouskha Plet and Dwight Samuels pointed out that they noticed a drastic rise in the number of teen pregnancies at secondary schools for education at junior level. “It seems as if it has become a trend for youths who are younger than 20 to get pregnant. We no longer consider it an incident but a growing social problem,” said Plet. The youth counselors want the government to focus on prevention but to also provide better provisions for teen moms. “We urge the minister of Education to find out if it would be possible to send teen moms to an evening school instead of a morning school,” said Samuels. Plet expressed concern over the impact that teen pregnancies could have on young students. “I know of a case where a 17-year-old girl who is enrolled at a Mulo school and who is a 10th grader is currently pregnant for the second time. I wonder if it is healthy for 12-year-old children and 13-year-old children to sit with her in the same classroom,” said Plet. The total annual cost of adolescent pregnancy and early motherhood in 15 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is estimated at USD 15.3 billion or, on average, 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a report released in March 2025 by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). “Lives are cut short and dreams are crushed under the weight of early motherhood,” said Susana Sottoli, UNFPA Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Adolescents who should be filling classrooms, conquering the world, are trapped in a cycle of poverty, inequality and missed opportunities.”