An approved Department of Basic Education (DBE) policy provides detailed guidelines on the procedure for handling a pupil's pregnancy, which includes upholding a child's right to education, News24 reports.
The 34-page policy on the prevention and management of pupil pregnancy in schools was expected to be implemented from January 2022. It comes as Statistics SA recorded the birth of 899,303 babies in 2020, of whom 34,587 were born to girls aged 17 and younger. According to the document, the schools would accommodate pregnant pupils by “upholding the right of the learner to education and provide access to care, counselling, and support through (the) Integrated School Health Policy”.
In addition, attention would be paid to the identity and rights of the biological father involved, whether he was a pupil, teacher, or a person outside the education system. If the child's biological father were a pupil, he would be counselled and guided to assume and sustain his rights and responsibilities. However, if the child's father were a teacher or a member of staff within the education system, he should be suspended and subjected to disciplinary and legal procedures. In a case where the father was someone outside the education system, he should be subjected to a judicial inquiry, and action should occur if there were a case to answer concerning coercion, sexual violence, and assault, or statutory rape.
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