With Zimbabwe passing the Education Amendment Act of 2020 which allowed re-entry of pregnant girls and adolescent mothers to school, a June 2023 report dubbed National Assessment on Adolescent Pregnancies in Zimbabwe found that the provision fell on deaf ears as more than 95 percent of pregnant adolescents are not going to school.
By Kuda Pembere
The report was prepared by the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV AIDS Research Zimbabwe (CeSHHAR) in partnership with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare (MoPSLSW), Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), and Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE).
Technical and funding support was provided by Plan International, Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council and Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency as well as UNICEF Zimbabwe, UNFPA, UNESCO, and WHO.
The amendment has been hailed as a positive step towards guaranteeing continuous education for the adolescent girls.
The study which recruited 1,413 adolescent girls saw that only 3 percent went to school despite being pregnant whereas over 50 percent knew about it. The adolescent girls aged between 10 and 19 years were selected from the country’s 10 provinces.
In the report, the median or average age for sexual debut was 16 years.
Despite over half of the adolescents having knowledge of this provision, the reasons why the 97 percent did not go to school after falling pregnant included stigma among others.
“School re-entry policy Only 59% of the adolescents were aware of the provision to continue with school during or after pregnancy. Despite public awareness of the school re-entry policy only 3.3% of the adolescents remained or were retained in school after pregnancy while the majority had no intentions of returning to school,” read the report.
Parents were also fearful the reincorporation of children into school fostered risky sexual behaviours.
“Childcare responsibilities, lack of financial support, and fear of stigma were some of the cited reasons for not wanting to go back to school. Parents and some community leaders had reservations regarding reintegration of the pregnant adolescents in schools.
“Parents feared that the reintegrated pregnant and adolescent mothers will negatively influence other adolescents and might result in more pregnancies in the schools,” said CeSSHAR in the report.
CeSHHAR recommended investments in fighting harmful social and gender norms as critical.
“Addressing beliefs and attitudes that hinder pregnant and adolescent mothers’ full integration in schools requires multi-sectoral interventions and practical support that goes beyond the education sector alone.
“There is need for investments in fighting harmful social and gender norms. Policies need to go beyond simply ‘allowing’ return to school by addressing the supportive conditions required to enable adolescent girls to return to and stay in school,” said CeSHHAR.
Added CeSHHAR, “Interventions and education systems may need to intensify access to interim alternative non-formal routes to education for pregnant and adolescent mothers especially in rural areas, while the longer term norms, attitudes and supports are being addressed in formal mainstream schools.
“This requires gender-transformative programming to increase the confidence and voice of this often socially marginalized group as well as assure platforms for their engagement.
“Listening to pregnant and adolescent mothers becomes important to promote tailor individualized support and deliver responsive programming that are human, and adolescent centered.
“At national level this becomes important to inform the design of effective policy, legislation, and practice.”
