Last week's announcement that Teen Services may be forced to shut down its education service due to lack of funding demonstrates an alarming lack of foresight.

It is easy to overwork the notion of "if Government can spend such and such on this complete waste of time, then surely it can spend this or that on this incredibly worthy cause", but this is surely one of those times when it applies:

"If Government can spend $35,000 on a party for airport workers, and $50,000 on parties to launch the ferries (even if the manufacturer did pay for them), then surely Government can find $120,000 to enable pregnant teenage mothers to complete their educations;" and, "If Government can spend $17 million a year on financial assistance, then surely it can find the money to enable pregnant teenage mothers to complete their educations and find a decent job to support their newborns so that they do not become yet another client for that same financial assistance department."

Single mothers - and most of these mothers will end up that way if history is anything to go by - are among the most vulnerable in society and are far more likely than others to end up requiring housing and financial assistance.

Teen Services' educational programme's existence is predicated on the idea that if pregnant teenagers do not have the chance to complete their educations, they will become welfare cases quickly.

There are no guarantees that some of the mothers won't require help later, but it is almost certain that if they do not complete their educations, they all will need help.

To be sure, the Teen Services Department has some responsibilities as well. It needs to ensure that it is efficient and economical in how it uses its funds and ensures that the vast bulk of its budget reaches its clients and is not devoted to administration and other expenses.

One problem is that it is not clear who runs Teen Services. It is a Government department, but has its own board of directors. Nonetheless, it gets 100 percent of its financing from Government and it is must be up to Government to ensure it is properly run.

For now, the alternative - that the 17 teenage students in the programme will be put out in the street - is not acceptable.

It is possible that some will choose to return to their own schools, but that cannot be a practical or acceptable alternative. The solution is to ensure that they are able to continue their education under the auspices of Teen Services.