Our teens swap books for babies

TEACHERS blame poor sex-education lessons in schools for the sharp increase in the number of teenage pregnancies.

According to a study by Statistics SA, no fewer than 160754 schoolgirls fell pregnant between July 2008 and July 2010. The General Household Survey 2010: Focus on Schooling, which looked at the pregnancy rate for the period July 2009 to July 2010, was released by the Department of Basic Education last week.

The study found that Limpopo had the highest number of teenage pregnancies, followed by KwaZulu-Natal.

In a bid to curb these pregnancies, several schools in Pietermaritzburg have enlisted the services of well-known virginity "tester" Nomagugu Ngobese to spread the message of sexual abstinence among their pupils.

The absence of department regulations spelling out exactly how schools should manage pregnancies has resulted in some deliberately barring pregnant pupils from attending class for a year.

Several teachers said not enough was being done in schools to educate pupils about the consequences of having unprotected sex.

An 18-year-old Grade 10 pupil from Nkomazi High in Mpumalanga, who gave birth to a baby girl on February 15, told the Sunday Times: "I was in love and did not realise the consequences of having sex."

A teacher and member of the school's guidance committee, Zoliswa Makhubela, said the high pregnancy rate proved that schools were "not doing well" in terms of sex-education lessons.

"I don't think I can teach it properly. It's very scary. I am sorry to say ... but it's not in our culture to talk about sex."

She said although pupils were taught about sexual reproduction in life sciences, teachers did not explore the subject deeply. "The parents we have won't understand why you [have to explain] subjects like that."

Thandi Sono, principal of Sophungane Combined School in Mpumalanga, where six pupils have fallen pregnant so far this year, agreed that teachers were not teaching life-orientation lessons well enough. "They need to do more. If teachers keep on preaching the gospel to female pupils, it will assist."

But Vishnu Naidoo, principal of Buffelsdale Secondary in Tongaat on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast, scoffed at suggestions that poor sex-education lessons were contributing to the high rate of pregnancies.

"Unless you have empirical evidence to prove that, it's shooting from the hip. Teachers are forthright about sex education," he said.

Life-orientation lessons, which are compulsory, include topics such as behaviour that could lead to sexual intercourse and teenage pregnancy as well as abstinence.

Schools contacted by the Sunday Times this week confirmed that they had several pregnant pupils. They include:

• Nkomazi High School in Mpumalanga; eight pupils;
• Vredendal North Secondary in the Western Cape: six pupils;
• Sanctor High School in the Eastern Cape: five pupils;
• Zitikeni High School in Gauteng: five pupils; and
• Rearabetswe High School in the Free State: five pupils.

Peter Leteane, principal of Rearabetswe, confirmed that parents were advised to immediately remove their daughter from the school if she was found to be pregnant.

"After delivering the baby, she can only come back the following year," he said.

A total of 25 teenage mothers at his school were collecting child support grants.

A teacher at Zitikeni High, who did not want to be named, said: "We encourage our girls to be proud of their virginity."

The director-general of the Department of Health, Malebona Matsoso, has ruled out the possibility of providing contraceptives to pupils, calling it "quite a controversial issue".

"South Africa has a very strong rights culture. We want to [rather] start with prevention messages so that the young ones can have a much better understanding," she said.