Student mums should be given chance to study

Nov 17, 2008

The New Vision gave extensive coverage to Fatuma Nansamba, a senior six student of Kibibi Secondary School who almost missed her A-Level exams after the head teacher blocked her because she became pregnant and gave birth two weeks to her exams.

By Simon Ndizeye

The New Vision gave extensive coverage to Fatuma Nansamba, a senior six student of Kibibi Secondary School who almost missed her A-Level exams after the head teacher blocked her because she became pregnant and gave birth two weeks to her exams.

She sat the exams as a day scholar after the intervention of the Ministry of Education and Sports. However, she would be allowed in the school premises only when she was coming to sit a paper and leave immediately after the exam. She was not to interact with the rest of the candidates, her former classmates, and had to be escorted by her mother everyday she was to sit a paper. She was instructed not to rent a room in the trading centre near the school.

The New Vision on November 10, further reported that another student was blocked from attending the briefing exercise to prevent her from interacting with other students. Why treat her like a hardcore criminal? What is the logic behind isolating her from other students as if she has a contagious disease?

Why should a mother make endless trips to school with her daughter instead of fending for the family back home?

There are many other untold stories of students who suffer similar fate after becoming pregnant. If Fatuma had known earlier that being pregnant at school would have such repercussions, most probably she would have opted for an unsafe abortion which could have ended her life or caused her severe reproductive health problems.

We do not find out the circumstances under which the girls become pregnant but they are probably raped or merely seduced by boyfriends. Adolescent easily get excited about falling in love but lack capacity to handle the feelings and end up succumbing to pressure from the boyfriends who ask for ‘proof’ of love.

The New Vision on November 10, 2008, also quoted education minister Namirembe Bitamazire as saying a policy “meant to discourage young girls from getting pregnant while still in school” was in the offing.

The policy does not address the root causes of the high prevalence of teenage pregnancy in Uganda. Such policy may not reduce the number of school girls who get pregnant but rather increase abortions among teenagers, using mostly unsafe methods, in a desperate attempt to remain in school. In the long-run this would worsen our maternal health indicators that show at least 6,000 Ugandan women and young girls die every year from pregnancy related complications.

According to the Uganda HIV/AIDS Sero-Behavioural Survey (2004–05), the median age of sexual debut is 16.8 years for females and 18.4 years for males. In Uganda 52.1% of females and 38.7% of males in the age bracket of 15-19 years have ever had sex (UNFPA 2006).

Furthermore, teenage pregnancy prevalence in Uganda is currently at 25 %.( Uganda Demographic Health Survey 2006). These figures show that the number of young girls potentially at risk of getting pregnant is high and therefore we need to think of realistic ways to reverse the trend.

The Ministry of Education should look at the option of making comprehensive sexual education compulsory for both boys and girls in primary and secondary schools.
This would enable young people to acquire information and form attitudes about sexual relationships, human sexual anatomy, reproduction and other aspects of human sexual behaviour.

They would then be able to make informed choices about their sexual behaviour. This has received lukewarm emphasis yet it is very important as young people grow up. Sex education is not about teaching young people how to make love or encouraging them to have sex.

Studies show that young people who have access to early non judgmental sexual education delay their first sexual intercourse or are more likely to adopt other safe sex practices.

Students who get pregnant should be allowed to go back to school after giving birth. They should be facilitated to access counselling and other adolescent sexual and reproductive health services so as to adjust to the school environment and avoid risky sexual behaviours that would expose them to another pregnancy or HIV/AIDS.

These young girls have the capability to progress in school and later become responsible and influential citizens of Uganda. They can still achieve their dreams in life if given a second chance to pursue their studies. This is a more sustainable approach to reducing teenage pregnancy in schools than putting in place a punitive policy.

The writer is a Training Assistant/Counsellor, Naguru Teenage Centre

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