The teenage pregnancy rate has been increasing severely over the last few years and so have the number of incidents of discrimination towards pregnant learners. Many have raised concerns on whether the department of education has done enough to protect the rights of pregnant learners.
Research shows that In the first quarter of 2021, more than 36,000 babies were delivered to girls between the ages of 10 and 19.
According to the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) the issue of teenage pregnancy is one that requires a multi-pronged and multi-stakeholder collaboration effort to resolve.
SADTU head of secretariat, Xolani Fakude says that the union has always acknowledged that learners have rights, as well as the learners who are pregnant.
There have recently been accusations about schools trying to prevent expectant students from taking exams and about the provincial education authorities’ failure to address the allegations.
This comes after two pregnant students at a KwaZulu-Natal institution complained that they were expelled before the start of the matric exams.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) introduced its learner pregnancy policy earlier this year in an effort to fill a legislative gap that had led to unfair and exclusive practices.
The policy was implemented to decrease learner pregnancies and dropout rates as well as to protect students’ rights to continue their education both during and after pregnancy.
Nevertheless, recent incidents have indicated that more has to be done despite the policy being in place.
SA Human Rights Commissioner, Andre Gaum says that one of the newer developments that can support rights for pregnant learners is the protocol of the elimination of discrimination in and through schools that have been released after being approved by the council of education ministers this year.
Gaum explains that the protocol states very clearly in respect of pregnancy, that the laws are clear, adding that learners who become or have been pregnant have an equal right to be free from discrimination and to receive and complete quality education.
“We feel it is a matter of implementation, education, and the promotion of human rights, and we need to step up our efforts in that area to guarantee that policies are not only written into the law books but that they are also executed.”
According to him, the SAHRC is collaborating with the DBE to develop a sample human rights code of conduct and extensive diversity and sensitivity intervention programs in schools that will engage parents, students, student representative councils, and teachers.
Parents and students are encouraged to report and bring unfair prejudice based on teenage regency to the commission’s attention so that it can be addressed and remedied.