Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: CEN

These heartwarming images show a teacher holding the baby son of a 16-year-old schoolgirl in class so she can concentrate on her studies.

Teacher Julio Cruz volunteered to look after the tot so single mum Moira Hinojosa, 16, could pay attention to the lesson he was giving at a school in the city of Concepcion in the north-western Argentinian province of Tucuman.

He held the little boy, Santino Benjamin, in his arms while writing on the blackboard and explaining the ‘theory and management of organisations’.

Pictures Credit: CEN/@moira.hinojosa

Moira, whose mum and stepfather help her with her baby at home, is in her last year of secondary school and hopes to eventually go on to study law to become a lawyer.

She told Central European News (CEN): “The teachers here have no problem with me bringing my son to class. I am the first one who has done this.

“Santino is very well behaved in class and does not bother anyone. When I have to feed him they give me privacy in a corner of the classroom.”

Mr Cruz said it was important to keep teenage mums in education and added: “We must encourage inclusion.

“I did it total naturally, it was 20 minutes before the class finished and my student needed to finish her work; I asked for the baby, I picked it up, it fell asleep in my arms and I continued with my work.

“I am a tutor for Moira and as a teacher it is important to teach but also to provide support and help students who need it. I did not do anything extraordinary, many teachers from other schools do the same.” 

Moira added on Facebook: “Our teachers make me proud of Argentinian education. They are people who do not care what other people say and who help a person who needs it without asking for anything in return.

“From the start of my pregnancy, I carried on going to lessons and everyone in the school has been by my side supporting and helping me all the time.

“When I started to take Santino to school, nobody tried to stop me bringing him to class. In fact, they did not want me to skip any lessons so they could keep seeing him and their love kept growing with him.”

Ariel Bahiano Figueroa, one of Moira’s classmates, also praised Mr Cruz on Facebook, saying: “We know him for his ability, his humility and his generosity as professional. 

“I wish there were more like you, teacher, you make students learn values, apart from teaching. He is a friend of the students and we need one.”

The identity of the father of Moira’s baby is not reported and it is not known whether he is involved in raising the little boy.