Johannesburg – The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has welcomed the announcement that the Teenage Pregnancy Policy is implemented from January 2022.
According to the commission, this will allow female learners who are pregnant to continue with their education as do male learners who impregnate them.
“Early, unplanned learner pregnancies subject girls to socio-economic hardships, and the termination of their education during that stage exacerbates the situation by diminishing their future economic and employment prospects,” the commission stated.
The Commission has also applauded the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for its decisive action to hold a plenary after 33,000 young girls fell pregnant in 2020. The meeting was a positive step in addressing the rape crisis, teenage pregnancy, and measures to deal with the scourge.
On 31 August 2021, stakeholders of the commission discussed the statutory rape and teenage pregnancy crises, where experts decried the lack of policy implementation to address the crises thereby stating that statistics point to around 120 000 learners falling pregnant every year.
The Commission for Gender Equality will be monitoring the implementation plan and will where necessary, engage both the DBE and Provincial Departments of Education.
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