FOR almost seven years, Enhlanhleni High school in the Underberg has expelled both students who fall pregnant and their partners from the school.
When Ruth Mkhize, a Catholic nun, became principal in 1993 she introduced this regulation ”to curb student pregnancy”. Since then more than 20 students have lost their right to education. Enhlanhleni High is a public school on the property of the Catholic Church. This, says current principal Chris Khathi, makes it difficult because the policy is ”unfair when one takes the Constitution into consideration, but is fair from the church’s viewpoint”, says Khathi.
School manager and Catholic Church priest Lindani Madela argues that anyone who makes a baby declares himself or herself to be an adult and therefore should not be allowed to mingle with students. Asked about the student’s constitutional right to education Madela says ”we are permitted to maintain religious ethos in Catholic schools”.
Some parents feel that the regulation should be revisited. ”If one recalls the period when Sister Mkhize was principal and compares it with recent years, it is clear that there has definitely been a decline,” says Khathi. However, he admits that there are cases which have gone unreported. Some students who fall pregnant avoid the repercussions by leaving the school.
If a female student does not report her pregnancy, her partner will not be incriminated. This has led to the school’s policy being labelled inconsistent. Khathi disagrees, saying that the school has dealt equally with all cases reported.
Last year pregnant matric pupils were permitted to write their exams. This conflicts with cases in the past where pregnant students were pulled out of class.
In defence of this, Khathi says it was the first time that matric students had fallen pregnant. ”When this happened, I sat down with the governing body and church representatives and discussed the matter. We concluded that the privilege only be given to grade 12 students [who fall pregnant],” he says.
KwaZulu-Natal’s education spokesperson, Muzi Kubheka, says that according to the Constitution, no student can be removed from a school as a result of pregnancy.
”This school has contravened the Constitution,” he says. With the controversy surrounding this regulation, Khathi says alternative methods of solving the problem of teenage pregnancy have to be practised.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, July 26, 2000.
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