GRADE 1 PUPIL AMONG 4 570 TEENAGE PREGNANCY DROPOUTS

NHLANGANO – A study has revealed that at least 4 570 girls have dropped out of the country’s schools due to unwanted pregnancies, one being a Grade I pupil.

This emerged yesterday when the Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, launched a campaign aimed at curbing the problem back in the communities, especially in the Shiselweni Region where he had targeted traditional leaders who are expected to lead the way. Addressing the chiefs at the launch which was held at the Nhlangano National Library, Masuku said teenage or unwanted pregnancies had become a societal malaise that had gone to the extent of threatening human existence in the kingdom. Explaining, the DPM said a study that was recently conducted on the phenomena of gender-based violence revealed that teenage pregnancy contributed heavily to the surge in violence in family settings of late.

Violence

“It was discovered that teenage or unwanted pregnancies have had their share of contribution to the violence we see around homes nowadays. This has become a serious problem and we need to find a solution to curb this problem that has also threatened our value system as a nation,” said the DPM. Masuku said the figures of pupils dropping out of school due to teenage pregnancy were very alarming. He said he was worried about the consequences, as many of these girls ended up not completing their education. He said the best way out of the problem was to groom young boys and girls on how to avoid this, as it used to happen in the past.

“Other negative consequences are the high incidence of abandoning children, which further perpetuates violence as the victims grow up without the proper care of parents in a family setting. I’m also getting worried about the growing number of orphans in the kingdom, and one can’t help but ask the question: could this be another result of teenage pregnancy?” argued the DPM, who said government was committed to solving the problem of teenage pregnancies and the attendant consequences as displayed by the insistence of the re-entry of girls who dropped out of school due to pregnancy.

“The figures are scary, and that is the main reason we have decided to take action as government before it becomes too late. One should not take reports that at a certain school, about 20 girls dropped out after falling pregnant, all in the same year,” he said.

Bombshell

But it was Dr Nature Shabangu, a senior official from the Ministry of Education and Training, who dropped the bombshell after he was called upon to shed some light on the problem affecting the country’s education system. Dr Shabangu painted a grim picture as he went through the statistics from each level of the schools hierarchy. He said out of 4 570 girls who dropped out of school during the period between the years 2014 and 2017, 809 were from primary school, and with one of them being in Grade I. Apart from the girls, he highlighted that 868 boys also dropped out because they had impregnated girls.

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