Schools give morning after pill to 11-year-olds

Thousands of girls as young as 11 can obtain the morning after pill at school without telling their parents, it was disclosed last night.

Sexual health clinics are being set up in secondary schools in England as part of a Government drive to cut teenage pregnancy.

Figures show that in some areas, up to half of schools now offer children a range of services, including free condoms, pregnancy kits and emergency contraception. One school has admitted handing out 345 morning after pills in the past four years.

In a new development, further education colleges have been issued with guidance recommending that they too set up specialist units to give advice to teenagers.

Last night, experts claimed the move had already helped slash teenage pregnancies.

However, traditionalists claim that making the morning after pill more readily available promotes promiscuity among young people.

Norman Wells, the director of Family and Youth Concern, said the move was "undermining the law on the age of consent". Britain's teenage pregnancy rate remains one of the highest in Europe, although it has fallen in the past decade. In 1998, 7,462 girls under 16 fell pregnant compared with 7,855 in 2005.

Since 2000, the Government has promoted sexual health services for teenagers as part of its "extended schools" policy, which turns schools into one-stop-shops for education, health and social services. The new guidance for colleges says principals should consider installing condom vending machines and holding regular chlamydia and gonorrhea testing sessions.

In a new report, Ofsted, the education watchdog, said nurses provided a "valuable service", insisting there was "no evidence that 'abstinence-only' education reduces teenage pregnancy or improves sexual health".

In some areas, half of schools now offer some form of sexual health advice.

In North Staffordshire, 18 secondary schools use mobile sexual health services. In North Tyneside, five out of 11 high schools have nurses and youth workers and in Thurrock, Essex, drop-in centres are provided at seven schools.

Data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act this year identified 226 schools that administered the morning after pill.

Gill Frances, the chairman of the Government's independent advisory group on teenage pregnancy, said: "Of course we wish under 16s were not having sex at all, but if they are it is important that they are protected from sexually-transmitted diseases and having babies."

The move has sparked anger among anti-abortion groups. Lutterworth School in Leicestershire has been targeted by pro-life campaigners since it emerged that at least two pupils a week had been given the morning after pill since 2003 - thought to be the highest rate in the country.