9 and on the pill
Health workers say they cannot deny children access to reproductive services, while countrywide hearings revealed that in Kavango alone 83 girls under the age of 15 fell pregnant in one year.
Girls as young as nine are accessing contraceptives at public health clinics without being accompanied by parents or guardians, while 10-year-olds are giving birth.
These were just some of the shocking revelations heard recently during public hearings conducted throughout the country by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Resources and Community Development.
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) parliamentarian Elma Dienda, who was among those who attended, said she was shocked.
Dienda added health workers simply said they cannot deny children access to reproductive services, when confronted about the legality of giving contraceptives to minors.
“The first question we asked them was where the parents were. And they could not answer. Imagine a nine-year old! That is not a teenager that is a child,” she said.
Dienda added in the Kavango alone, 83 girls under the age of 15 fell pregnant in one year.
“And these cases are not reported to the police. Not by the teacher, not by the doctor or anyone. That is rape, nothing but rape. We have not seen one rape case opened in this regard,” she exclaimed.
Swapo MP Gotthard Kasuto said they were informed that girls as young as 16 are already pregnant with their second child.
“In one region we came across a case where a uniformed servant or a senior government official was seen dating a minor and nobody said anything. It is as if this blesser, blessee story is becoming a norm. People do not report it,” he said.
Abortion pills
Kasuto added that while there is no concrete evidence, there were rumours that abortion pills are readily available in rural areas.
“Somewhere in the Kunene Region we heard people talking about these pills that girls can buy from the street. And this can endanger their lives,” said Kasuto.
He added parents also shared that in some cultures it is taboo for adults to talk to children about sex, which makes it difficult for parents to educate their children.
These public hearings followed a motion tabled by Dienda in the National Assembly last year.
In her motion Dienda highlighted the worryingly high rate of teenage pregnancies in the country and suggested that the education ministry's Revised Education Sector Policy for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy be reviewed.
She raised the spectre that this policy may be doing more harm than good, adding it would appear that pregnant girls do not learn from their mistakes, but rather abuse the system.
“The numbers do not lie. Something is seriously wrong. Either the policy the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture has implemented to reduce and control teenage pregnancies is not being implemented properly or even when implemented properly they do not have the desired effect and need to be changed,” she said.
Dienda also questioned whether school staff, including teachers and most importantly school principals, are properly trained to implement this policy.
A report compiled by the National Council Women's Caucus Outreach, following visits to pregnancy hotspot regions //Karas, Hardap, Ohangwena, Zambezi and Kavango West, highlighted that “many people are against the school policy on teenage pregnancy, because it seems it is contributing to more pregnancies among learners”.
“It has become like a fashion among the learners to get pregnant while at school, because pregnant learners are freely walking around, majestically in the corridors of schools.”
Kasuto concurred with this statement, saying that some parents condemned the policy saying it has contributed to an increase in teenage pregnancies.
“The parents also asked why is it that we only deal with teachers, but other high-ranking government officials are not taken to task when they impregnate minors. They also wanted to know why it must only be the girl that stays at home and the father, who is sometimes also a learner, is allowed to continue his education,” he said.
Health policy
Director of primary healthcare services Maria Kavezembi said the ministry has guidelines that stipulate when a person is sexually active they can access reproductive health services.
However, those that cannot make their own decisions are required to be accompanied by their parents or guardians.
“Children are not supposed to be sent back but it must be done with counselling. You know sometimes you send the child back and then you sit with a teenage pregnancy,” she said.
JEMIMA BEUKES
These were just some of the shocking revelations heard recently during public hearings conducted throughout the country by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Human Resources and Community Development.
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) parliamentarian Elma Dienda, who was among those who attended, said she was shocked.
Dienda added health workers simply said they cannot deny children access to reproductive services, when confronted about the legality of giving contraceptives to minors.
“The first question we asked them was where the parents were. And they could not answer. Imagine a nine-year old! That is not a teenager that is a child,” she said.
Dienda added in the Kavango alone, 83 girls under the age of 15 fell pregnant in one year.
“And these cases are not reported to the police. Not by the teacher, not by the doctor or anyone. That is rape, nothing but rape. We have not seen one rape case opened in this regard,” she exclaimed.
Swapo MP Gotthard Kasuto said they were informed that girls as young as 16 are already pregnant with their second child.
“In one region we came across a case where a uniformed servant or a senior government official was seen dating a minor and nobody said anything. It is as if this blesser, blessee story is becoming a norm. People do not report it,” he said.
Abortion pills
Kasuto added that while there is no concrete evidence, there were rumours that abortion pills are readily available in rural areas.
“Somewhere in the Kunene Region we heard people talking about these pills that girls can buy from the street. And this can endanger their lives,” said Kasuto.
He added parents also shared that in some cultures it is taboo for adults to talk to children about sex, which makes it difficult for parents to educate their children.
These public hearings followed a motion tabled by Dienda in the National Assembly last year.
In her motion Dienda highlighted the worryingly high rate of teenage pregnancies in the country and suggested that the education ministry's Revised Education Sector Policy for the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy be reviewed.
She raised the spectre that this policy may be doing more harm than good, adding it would appear that pregnant girls do not learn from their mistakes, but rather abuse the system.
“The numbers do not lie. Something is seriously wrong. Either the policy the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture has implemented to reduce and control teenage pregnancies is not being implemented properly or even when implemented properly they do not have the desired effect and need to be changed,” she said.
Dienda also questioned whether school staff, including teachers and most importantly school principals, are properly trained to implement this policy.
A report compiled by the National Council Women's Caucus Outreach, following visits to pregnancy hotspot regions //Karas, Hardap, Ohangwena, Zambezi and Kavango West, highlighted that “many people are against the school policy on teenage pregnancy, because it seems it is contributing to more pregnancies among learners”.
“It has become like a fashion among the learners to get pregnant while at school, because pregnant learners are freely walking around, majestically in the corridors of schools.”
Kasuto concurred with this statement, saying that some parents condemned the policy saying it has contributed to an increase in teenage pregnancies.
“The parents also asked why is it that we only deal with teachers, but other high-ranking government officials are not taken to task when they impregnate minors. They also wanted to know why it must only be the girl that stays at home and the father, who is sometimes also a learner, is allowed to continue his education,” he said.
Health policy
Director of primary healthcare services Maria Kavezembi said the ministry has guidelines that stipulate when a person is sexually active they can access reproductive health services.
However, those that cannot make their own decisions are required to be accompanied by their parents or guardians.
“Children are not supposed to be sent back but it must be done with counselling. You know sometimes you send the child back and then you sit with a teenage pregnancy,” she said.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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