Education department’s policy on learner pregnancy welcomed

DURBAN - THE National Association of School Governing Bodies and the Parents Association in KwaZulu-Natal have welcomed the national policy on prevention and management of pupil pregnancy in schools.

The policy was launched by the Department of Education.

The policy is set to provide guidance on the reduction of pregnancies, management of the pre- and post-natal consequences for pupils and eliminate gender disparities in education.

A Statistics South Africa report for live births recorded in 2020 showed that there were 33 000 teenage mothers and among them there were 660 babies birthed by mothers aged 10 years and under.

KZN Department of Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said the aim of the policy was to reduce the incidence of learner pregnancy through the provision of quality comprehensive sexuality education as well as providing access to adolescent and youth-friendly sexual reproductive health services.

The objectives of policy are to:

• Provide sexual reproductive health services, including access to effective contraceptive technologies in association with social sector partners, to enable pupils to make informed choices, avoid unintended pregnancies or, as necessary, to obtain abortions.

• Facilitate the return and retention of pupils, following childbirth, into an appropriate grade in their schools.

• Facilitate access for pregnant pupils to antenatal care through collaboration with social sector partners and NGOs.

• Enable schools to provide a stigma free, non-discriminatory and non-judgemental environment for pregnant pupils and those with babies, to support their physical and psychological health and dignity.

Parents Association KZN chairperson Vee Gani said more was needed to be done to educate young people about teenage pregnancy.

“We have to concentrate on the boy children in terms of responsibility. The policy and advocacy has always been there, the problem is implementation and sustainability because sustaining this kind of information in schools on a regular basis is not done and that is part of the problem.”

National Association of School Governing Bodies general secretary Matakanye Matakanya said they welcomed the policy as it might provide a solution to teenage pregnancy as the numbers keep rising.

“The problem of pregnancy in schools is a social matter in a sense that now it is occurring in the communities and it is transported into the schools. If this is not stopped in the communities, it will always continue in the schools, so we are hoping the policy might manage this issue,” said Matakanya.

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