Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has asked the government to support the reintegration of adolescent mothers to the education system.

The government, according to Gatchalian, should also continue sustaining the effort to curb teenage pregnancy through effective reproductive health education.

He made this call as the country celebrates National Women’s Month this March. 

Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Committee on Basic Education, emphasized the need to support adolescent mothers since they tend to drop or discontinue their education after giving birth. 

He cited the role of the Alternative Learning System (ALS) to continue the provision of learning opportunities to adolescent mothers.

Under the Alternative Learning System Act (Republic Act No. 11510), which Gatchalian authored and sponsored, the ALS was institutionalized and strengthened to provide increased opportunities for out-of-school children in special cases and adult learners, including indigenous peoples, to develop basic and functional literacy and life skills and pursue an equivalent pathway to complete basic education.\ According to the 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS5) by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI), there has been a dramatic decline in the number of female youths aged 15 to 19 who have ever been pregnant. From 14.4 percent in 2013, the percentage of female youth aged 15 to 19 who have ever been pregnant in 2021 was 7.2 percent,

The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM), however, remains concerned that pregnancies among adolescents aged 10 to 14 remain high. 

In 2021, 2,299 young Filipinas aged 10 to 14 gave birth, just slightly lower than the 2,534 from the same age group who gave birth in 2020.

Under the 2023 national budget, P10 million is allocated for the social protection program for adolescent mothers and their children. The program will include strategies and interventions developed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the POPCOM, and other relevant agencies.

Gatchalian said the negative effect of early pregnancy to young girls is that they discontinue going to school and eventually miss opportunities to land gainful employment.