A project in Waterford that helps keep teenage mothers in education has been thrown a Government lifeline after being threatened with closure.
The Waterford Student Mothers Group is to receive a grant of almost £70,000 which will not only keep it in business but enable it to expand its services.
The project is the first to cater for mothers in second-level education and offer the support needed to help them stay in school.
Since it began in October 1997, it has had 12 participants aged between 15 and 19, two of whom progressed to third-level education this year. The members come from the four main secondary schools for girls in Waterford city.
The new funding, allocated by Minister of State Mr Frank Fahey from the budget for special needs in education, will enable the group co-ordinator, Ms Bernadette Phillips, to work full-time. "We've had to operate on a shoestring budget to date, but this funding changes all that," she said.
"The main aim of the group has been to help young mothers to stay in education because until we started there wasn't anybody doing that." So successful is the project that Ms Phillips has been getting calls from all over the country from people asking how they might repeat the initiative elsewhere.
In its first annual report four months ago, the Waterford group identified the obstacles in the way of young women wishing to return to secondary school or go on to third-level after their babies are born.
These included difficulties in accessing childcare and creche facilities due to the cost and lack of places; finding time to study; and finding suitable accommodation. There was also a lack of counselling, support and guidance services.
"As education holds the key to breaking dependence on the State in the long-term, it is imperative that every assistance is given to encourage people who are in this situation to become independent and create for themselves and their children a decent lifestyle and life chances," the report said.
"The assistance to date is full of short-term solutions without vision - quick fixes that add up to nothing more than keeping these young parents down at a level from which it is incredibly difficult to rise upwards. Under these short-term approaches, cycles of poverty thrive."
The group, which meets on Saturdays, helps educate the women in topics such as personal development, child development, parenting, budgeting, health, rights and entitlements, first aid and employment and study skills.
Ms Phillips said the new funding, which will cover operating costs for the next 12 months, will enable the group to expand its outreach work and to liaise with the schools and the South Eastern Health Board.
Waterford Fianna Fail TD Mr Brendan Kenneally, who is closely associated with the group, said it was a particularly worthwhile project.
"As well as the opportunities it gives the young mothers and ultimately their children, one of the main attractions of the group is that it helps the girls to avoid becoming dependent on social welfare payments.
"This means that any funding from the Government actually represents a very good investment."