Discrimination against pregnant school girls must stop: Motshekga
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says teenage pregnancy at schools remains a big problem.
She briefed the media following a meeting with the Council of Education Ministers in Pretoria, where issues in the education sector were discussed.
Motshekga says pregnant learners should stay in school as long as possible.
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"Learners must stay in school as long as they can and they must come back when they are ready. We had to put it into policy as guidelines strictly to say when it will happen," says Motshekga.
Motshekga says it cannot only be the department's responsibility to educate girls about teen pregnancy, and that communities also need to play their part.
"The statistics we have do reveal that younger children fall pregnant, but the majority of learners who fall pregnant are between the ages of 17 and 18," says Motshekga.
Motshekga also says they want harsher penalties for those who vandalise school property.
"We are going to approach cabinet to criminalise school vandalism the way they criminalised cable theft, because we think it is high treason. If you remove a school door, you are not cheating a family of five, you are cheating generations and it should be seen in that light," says Motshekga.