Luísa Grilo spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the presentation of a scholarship program that includes a Girl Empowerment and Learning for All Project, adding that more studies will be carried out to quantify and determine the extent to which early pregnancy takes girls away from school.
The program will benefit around 900,000 students of the 1st cycle in 68 municipalities across the country and contribute to reducing school dropout among girls and boys, she said.
"We know that in this age group, especially among girls, school dropout is very frequent, we want students to complete, at least, the 12th grade", said Luísa Grilo, stressing that girls are given priority because "unfortunately, they are the ones who drop out in the first place, for various reasons", the most worrying of which is teenage pregnancy.
The project includes a sexual and reproductive health component for young people and a grant that will serve as an incentive for them to stay in school rather than exchange it for "small businesses".
It also aims to respond to those who dropped out of education through second chance education.
"As there is a gap between the age and the class in which they should study, we are adopting a learning program for teenagers to recover lost learning, it is one of the components of the project, through the massification of distance learning", highlighted Luísa Grilo .
