Zambia recorded over 12,000 Primary School pregnancies in 2013

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Mabumba High day school,
Many children live a long way from school and prefer to rent accommodation nearby. Grade 12 pupil Dorcas, 17, stopped attending the Mabumba High day school, about 20km east of provincial capital Mansa, after becoming pregnant. She said: “We were staying the three of us [girls], then we started sharing the house with three guys and that is how we paired ourselves. We just wanted some form of emotional support; life is really tough out there. So, the whole of last year we were living together with the guys and would have [unprotected] sex almost every night but everything was OK.” ~ Dorcas. Photo Credit - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)

ZAMBIA last year recorded 12,500 pregnancies among primary school pupils and 2,428 in secondary schools, Minister of Education John Phiri has disclosed.
Dr Phiri said that of these, 4,492 pupils were readmitted at primary school level while 1,337 secondary school learners were readmitted after delivering, representing a re-admission rate of less than 50 per cent.
The minister was speaking yesterday at Lusaka’s Pamodzi Hotel during the exposition of the Teachers’ Diploma in Psychosocial Care, Support and Protection that has been launched in conjunction with the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI).


“Realising that the aforementioned challenges not only frustrate the schooling environment but also retard national development, my ministry has embarked on a robust programme to address the challenges,” Dr Phiri said.
Dr Phiri said the education strengthening processes included revision of education policies, strengthening school-based guidance and counselling services.
“This partnership between the Government and REPSSI has resulted into the realisation of the teachers’ diploma in Psychosocial, Care, Support and Protection,” Dr Phiri said.
“Through the six modular course, the programme explores the building blocks for a caring school; helps teachers to realise the potential of children and youth as well as realising the potential of their classroom.”
The minister was speaking in a speech read for him by assistant director for human resource in the Ministry of Education John Nyangu. REPSSI country director Kelvin Ngoma said through the teachers’ diploma in Psychosocial Care, Support and Protection, teachers had improved their capacity to support cognitive, social and emotional learning of the learners.


“This positions the school as a unit for integrated development of the learner, and in turn assures psychosocial well-being to thrive, stay in school and realise their potential,” Mr Ngoma said.
Mr Ngoma said the psychosocial approach gave teachers an opportunity to develop an understanding of themselves and how to enhance their potential and development of children and the way in which they (children) learned.
“The course creates a balanced approach to learning and teaching. The package positions the beneficiary schools as centres for positive transformation of the learner and, in return, creates conscious communities in the vicinity of such schools,” he said.

 

Times of Zambia

10 COMMENTS

  1. What are the Pupils doing in Schools, studying or there’s a new curriculum activity, SEX? This is destroying the future prospective learned Mothers., SAD. Where is the problem? O course it is the Elderly people with NO SHAME who sleep with these little ones. If you are an elderly Man or older Man with a Penis and you Coerce these little ones into Sex where you deflower them & not only that you pregnant them in their early lives you are stupid, very stupid.

  2. What are the Pupils doing in Schools, studying or there’s a new curriculum activity, SEX? This is destroying the future prospective learned Mothers., SAD. Where is the problem? O course it is the Elderly people with NO SHAME who sleep with these little ones. If you are an elderly Man or older Man with a Penis and you Coerce these little ones into Sex where you deflower them & not only that you pregnant them in their early lives you are stupid, very stupid.

  3. I like the readmission part of this story. It is the brain which goes to school not the womb.take the girl child to school.

  4. An example of a rotten country with no morals.getting pregnant at primary level is unheard of.

  5. An example of a rotten country with no morals.getting pregnant at primary level is unheard of.

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