Bosnian parents have expressed outrage after seven girls aged between 13 and 14 came back pregnant after going on a five-day school trip to their country's capital city, Sarajevo.
The schoolgirls, from the city of Banja Luka, returned to Bosnia after having fallen pregnant, the Herald Sun reported. Now, furious parents are demanding to know why there was such a lack of teacher supervision on the five-day trip.
But instead of taking responsibility, the school has placed the blame on the girls' parents, claiming they are responsible for not having properly educated their children on the subject.
The school had taken 28 girls to Sarajevo on an educational outing recently to visit museums and other historical sites, ranked among the finest in the world, Nenad Babici, the National Coordinator for Reproductive Health of the Republika, told Inserbia.info.
Since sexually active girls between 13 and 15 have increased significantly in recent years, the case has sparked nationwide discussions about sex education in Bosnia.
"That is the trend of today. But we cannot continue to allow our children to be educated about sex on the street and not in school," Senad Mehmedbasic, a gynecologist from Sarajevo, said, describing the growing trend as "worrying."
Apart from educational institutes, parents should also play a significant role in providing effective sex education, he said.
"It is obvious that children do not have enough knowledge of health education so they engage in such activities, not knowing the consequences," he continued. "We have to be more direct in the educational system, it must not be allowed that street teaches children about intimate matters, and that they are later slapped by life."
According to the InSerba News Network, young girls in Bosnia are allegedly seeking advice from experts online. "I would have sex with my boyfriend, even though I'm only 14... But I am afraid I'll be judged," one girl wrote online.
Since returning from the trip, all seven girls have reportedly dropped out of their classes, UK MailOnline reported.
Meanwhile, early engagement in sexual relations leads to adverse consequences such as infertility, various diseases, miscarriages and premature births.
Last year in Sarajevo, 31 underage girls made headlines after becoming pregnant.
