School reaching out to teenage mothers

He Matariki Teen Parent School manager Terri Cunningham said the proposal to create more outreach services would give it the opportunity reach many more Northland teen parents. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Northland's teen parent school thinks having outreach teachers and creating online classes will help educate hundreds of extra teen parents in the region.

The Association of Teen Parent Educators of NZ asked the Ministers of Education, Social Development and Health to create outreach services for young parents using the country's existing teen parent schools.

The proposal comes after it was recently announced Northland was the only region in the country with an increasing rate of teen births.

Manager of He Matariki Teen Parent School, in Raumanga, Terri Cunningham said the proposal would give it the opportunity reach many more teen parents.

"I know it's really exciting in that we are uniquely placed in terms of being able to support many more people that are not able to be here," Ms Cunningham said.

Currently the school reached about 35 teen parents at one time despite the fact the number of teenagers giving birth in Northland each year was in the hundreds.

The total number of teen births in Northland in 2013 was 224, with eight of these from mothers aged 15 or younger.

"It kind of makes sense that we really try to get out there," Ms Cunningham said. "We're well resourced."

The school gave young mums the opportunity to pursue qualifications, so they and their children would not have to rely on the benefit, she said. For the first time last year students sat NCEA exams, with four achieving university entrance.

The plan would be to enrol students who, for whatever reason - including location, transportation and childcare - could not access a teen parent school.

Those students would learn online with qualified teachers travelling to them individually or in groups.

In 2013, Northland surpassed Gisborne as the region with the highest rate of teen births, according to the report from the Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit.

In Northland in 2013 - the most recent year data was available for - there were 45.6 teen births per 1000 teens. In 2006 that rate was 45.4 and 2001 was 41.6, making Northland consistently a region teen births were more common.