IN: VOX POPS (Voices of learners’€™ ‘€“ their views on teenage pregnancy)

Kukungabi nalwazi lwaneleyo lokuya ecantsini okanye xa nibheka ecantsini ningenza ngohlobo lunjani. I think ulwazi oluncinci luyingozi xa kufikelelwa kwiimeko ezinjena ngoba silulutsha abazali bethu abasifundisi ngezi zinto azithethwa komakwethu sidibana nazo estratweni ziya mislead(isha) sometimes. Lulwazi oluncinci olwenza sizibone si engaged kwi sexual activities ezingaprotect(ekanga).

Translation: Lack of information about sexuality can be dangerous especially when parents are not willing to share such information. Sexuality issues are things you grasp from the street and it’€™s taboo for parents to divulge such wisdom. Peer pressure and mischievous influence from the friends can mislead others to unprotected sexual encounters.

VOX POPS: These days I don’€™t think   bisekhona imistake, I mean zikhona ii ‘€“ educators siyafundiswa and abantu abasifundisayo ngoku ngabantu abalingana nathi beku supposed siyamamela ngaphandle njekokuba sinale ignorance sinayo ke qha siyi youth

Translation: These days I don’€™t think pregnancy can be referred to as something happened out of sheer   ignorance, it happens because of recklessness amongst youth.

VOX POPS: Thina singabafana   as ba singabafana like siye sithi xa simithisile kufumaniseke ukuba uba kwipressure yokondla. Kufumaniseke ukuba u-involve(ka) kwi crime eyenzekayo uhambe uyoqhekeza for ukuba ufumane imali for ukondla umntana that’€™s why   nobundlobongela bungapheli.

Translation: We, guys, once we impregnate a girl we feel pressure because we have to fend for the baby and be responsible for the maintenance of the child this leads to the high level of crime in the country because if there’€™s no employment on is propelled to break into houses and steal peoples property to try and support the child. These are some of reasons why there is a no solution of crime.

THANDEKA TEYISE:

Luhlaza High in Khayelitsha and Fish Hoek Senior Secondary are two schools in Cape Town that are both supportive of the new policy, but they have different mechanisms to ensure that pregnant learners continue with their studies.

Mike Edwards is the principal of Fish Hoek Senior Secondary School where girls are encouraged to stay on in school even if they do fall pregnant.

MIKE EDWARDS:

Pregnant girls are not put out of school, they are left in the school and they are assisted guided by the guidance department until such time as it becomes impossible for them to stay at school any longer and then they live have their child and then they come back to school has been born.

The child is not victimized here at all the child is handled as sympathetically as possible given the situation if the father is known to the school that child will also not be victimized but will also be handled in fact we had a case recently where the two children were involved and both of them were handled in a humane way.

TEYISE:

What do you think of schools that expel pregnant learners?

EDWARDS:

That is the way it used to be done in the shall I call it the dark ages, I feel personally that if that is happening today then those schools are denying the children their right and they should be stopped.

TEYISE:

What is your own perception of the learner pregnancy policy?

EDWARDS:

I think it’€™s now got to the stage where it is been dealt with in a humane way, this is the way it should have been dealt with for many, many years and of course there wasn’€™t but fortunately I think we’€™re on the right track now.

TEYISE:

Acting Deputy Principal ‘€“Vuyiswa Mantsha of Luhlaza High School in Khayelitsha says they are required to adhere to the laws laid down by the department of education   not to dismiss or expel pregnant learners.   Which she says is a good omen but there are other concerns like how do other learners view pregnancy at school does that mean that it’€™s alright to get pregnant and so on.

VUYISWA MANTSHA:

Most of our girls get pregnant kwaku grade 8 right through up to grade 12 into esiye siyenze ke sithi xa abantwana sifumanise ukuba bakuloo problem yokuba pregnant sibabize sithethisane kunye nabo we call in the parent sithethe neparents sive ukuba umntwana ukungakanani. Okuqala umthetho awusivumeli ukuba abantwana sibagxothe ngoko ke nathi asibagxothi abantwana but siye si advise kwiparent xa umntwana sele eadvanced mhlawumbi kunganjani intokuba umntwana angagcinwa endlini kubekho iarrangement ekhoyo yokuba umntwana afumane umsebenzi esendlini.And then immediately umntwana eba through nepregancy yakhe ebeleka siyamamnkela back eskolweni xa kubhalwa iitest -exams umntwana esesekhaya we make arrangement umntwana azokubhala.

Translation: Most of our girls get pregnant from grades 6 to 12. Once we find out that the learner is pregnant we call the parents and find out how far is the child’€™s pregnancy. The law prevents dismissal of pregnant learners so we don’€™t expel them. We advise the parents that the learner should stay at home unit she has given birth only if she’€™s in the advanced stages. An arrangement is made that the learner will get school work and tests to do at home. Immediately after the learner has given birth she comes back to school .

TEYISE:

So how is a student’€™s school progress monitored if she’€™s at home?

MANTSHA:

Thina on our own side, we don’€™t really go out of our way but into esiye siyenze we make arrangements with umntana okunye naye eklasini oyifriend yakhe preferably nohlala close kokwabo we talk together nabo inokubana maba try(e) maybe weekly on Fridays and Mondays badibane athi get umsebenzi weveki and then bahlale kunye ambonise umsebenzi wevekispecially if zifriends.

Translation: To be honest with you, we don’€™t really go out of our won way and find out whether she gets the work or not. We ask one of the fellow learners, preferably a close friend or someone who stays nearby to help her to catch up with school work and we ask her to meet week twice a week, preferably Fridays and Mondays.

TEYISE:

Marcelle Maas-Olsen   – Chief Educationist Specialist for the Western Cape Department of Education says despite the fact that the policy prohibits the expulsion of pregnant learners in schools but learners should take responsibility of their lives. She describes the new Western Cape Department of Education Policy on Managing Learner Pregnancy in Public Schools as in line to the constitution of South Africa.

MARCELLE MAAS-OLSEN:

The previous policy that was formed part of the general manual which was a circular 77 of 98 and was dealing with suspension and expulsion of learners from public schools and section 5 of that general manual it dealt with teenage pregnancy in the light of sexual activities of the learners on the school property or at school related functions as being regarded as a serious misconduct so it stated that bit and then it went on to teenage pregnancy but it was clear that a learner who is pregnant should not be deemed to be guilty of serious misconduct and the situation needed to be treated with sensitivity and confidentiality by the school but I just felt that was not the place to deal with pregnancy it’€™s a place to deal with misconduct but not with the pregnancy issue because that was the only guide that then gave a procedure for dealing with pregnancy and a procedure was fine because it was sensitive and it did make allowances for the girl being allowing her access to education. But if you look at the context of the document ‘€œA general Manual for dealing with suspension and expulsion of   learners from public schools’€ and that was not the type of situation that we wanted a policy to be in so that’€™s why we then revised that.

The new policy is quiet not simplistic as that they are allowed, there are certain conditions in the policy in other words that is give them access but obviously there are certain conditions that they have to adhere to for example, you would have things such as if the school can accommodate the learner as long as is it’€™s viable for the learner is there in terms of their health and also that the school will not make logistical arrangements for example if it was a double story school building and the timetable requires the learner to be on the top floor for math’€™s you couldn’€™t rearrange the entire school timetabling or the venues but as long as she could continue in the school in terms of her medical condition   or of access that will be fine.