Pupils as young as 12 will be able to access male and female condoms and information about them in a youth-friendly environment from nurses involved in the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP).
The “reasonable” access to condoms and information about their usage will be “dependent on their level of inquiry or need”.
And schools will provide pupils with “scientifically accurate, age-appropriate and comprehensive information and materials on sexual and reproductive health rights”.
These are among the measures aimed at preventing unintended pregnancies among schoolgirls that are contained in the department of basic education’s new and long-awaited policy on the prevention and management of pupil pregnancy.
The goal of the policy, approved by cabinet last month, is to reduce the incidence of pupil pregnancy “through the provision of quality CSE (comprehensive sexuality education) and access to adolescent and youth-friendly SRH (sexual and reproductive health) services”.
During her address at the Charlotte Maxeke memorial lecture in Pretoria last week, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said: “I am happy to report that cabinet has adopted the revised policy as a pushback against men in fancy suits who impregnate young girls as young as 10 years.”
Cabinet said the policy, seen by Sunday Times Daily, responds to a 2012 court judgment that ruled against the department of basic education on a clause that called for pupils to stay away from school for up to two years after giving birth.
Some of the policy’s objectives include:
- Providing SRH services, including access to effective contraceptive technologies in association with social sector partners, to enable pupils to avoid unintended pregnancies or, as necessary, to obtain abortions; and
- To ensure the return and retention of pupils, after childbirth, into an appropriate grade in their schools.
Figures for national deliveries in facilities by the department of health revealed that 132,612 girls aged 15 to 19 fell pregnant in 2020 and a further 35,209 between January and March this year. A shocking 3,774 girls aged 10 to 14 fell pregnant last year and 1,053 in the first three months of this year.
According to the document, schools must allow pregnant pupils to remain there during and after pregnancy.
“Expulsion or exclusion of pregnant learners from a school is prohibited.”
The return to school for gymslip mothers “will depend on medical advice and the point in the calendar year when she left the school for delivery”.
“Learners who are over six months pregnant will be required to submit a medical certificate indicating the status of their pregnancy and estimated delivery date.”
Pregnant girls wishing to continue schooling beyond eight months into their pregnancy could be asked to “take a leave of absence” if they fail to produce a medical certificate certifying it is safe to remain at school.
An interesting development is that attention will be given to the identity and rights of the biological father and that, if the father is a pupil, he should be guided to assume and sustain his rights and responsibilities.
An interesting development is that attention will be given to the identity and rights of the biological father and that, if the father is a pupil, “he should be guided to assume and sustain his rights and responsibilities”.
Teachers and other designated school personnel will be trained to provide CSE, information on pregnancy and maternity, and offer a supportive, stigma-free and youth-friendly environment.
Life orientation and other subjects, through the provision of CSE, should contain material that is interactive and pupil-centred to deliver quality, age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health information, including information on contraception.
The policy states that the department of basic education “is required to ensure that comprehensive protection, delayed sexual debut or abstinence is a default option and provide the critical thinking skills and information necessary to make this choice”.
The document is clear that a teacher is prohibited from having sex with a pupil, even if consent is given.
It will also become mandatory for teachers to provide counselling, support and advice, and to report to police cases where a pregnant pupil is under the age of 16 and her partner over the age of 16, as this will entail civil and criminal proceedings against him.
“These legal implications for the learner and her partner therefore require the utmost sensitivity and guidance.”
Expulsion or exclusion of pregnant pupils from a school is prohibited.
Shaheda Omar, clinical director at the Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children, said while the policy is brilliant and progressive because it aims to optimise every opportunity for pupils to obtain an education, “we don’t want this to be pie in the sky”.
“The rollout and implementation is important and we need to ensure that a budget is allocated. It’s all very well to have a policy, but if the resources are not put in place, it’s going to be a futile exercise.”
Omar said the expectation is that schools will reach out to pupils to assist them to continue learning outside the school environment.
But she expressed reservations about the move to guide biological-father male pupils to assume responsibility for the baby.
“It’s not always easy to identify the father and what if it’s an incident of rape or sexual assault and the victim actually wants nothing to do with the biological father?”
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