It is good that teenage mothers get all the help they can get, first of all to take care of their young ones, and secondly to continue their studies for as long as possible. A teenage pregnancy should not prohibit them from pursuing their aspirations.

But what stood out during the opening ceremony of what is known as the Centru Ghozza last Tuesday – where teenage pregnant girls as well as those who have already given birth may attend to get the necessary support to enable them to further their studies – was the lack of reference to what schools are doing to educate teenagers not to get pregnant at such a young age in the first place. If they are doing anything, that is.

Thankfully, these days getting pregnant while still at school does not lead the expectant mother to be sent to some convent in Gozo for the whole nine months. We have moved on from that.

But the question that should be asked is whether in our schools teenagers are being educated well-enough to avoid getting pregnant when they are so young. In other words, are they being taught about using contraceptives if they are sexually active? Or is the subject still a taboo?

During Tuesday’s ceremony, it was said that some 100 women under the age of 18 get pregnant every year. While accidents do happen, it is also probable that many of these - and this includes their partners - were not well-informed about what could have been done to avoid conceiving a child.

This is where schools come in. Some say that it is also the parents’ responsibility to educate their children in this sense, but it is also a known fact that many parents find it extremely hard to speak to their children about sexual matters, or else are too ignorant to do so. Others simply do not care.

This is why schools – and our educational set-up – should be in the forefront to educate teenagers in this respect. Right from the early secondary school years, if not before, students should receive a gradual education not only on the biological aspect, but also about methods that are available to avoid getting pregnant.

It is useless hoping that all children in secondary schools today are not sexually active, and so the best thing to do is to educate them about contraceptive methods that exist. After all, the main reason for this is to enable these young people – boys and girls – to mature more before they have to take on the responsibility of a child.

And while it is good that these days teenage pregnancies are no longer seen as a scandal, such situations should be avoided as much as possible – for the good of the teenage mother, the father of her child and the baby.