SOUTH AFRICA: LIMPOPO GRADE 10 LEARNER GIVES BIRTH IN SCHOOL TOILET

Thu 25 July 2024:

A grade 10 student at Molautsi Secondary School in Bloodriver, outside of Polokwane, Limpopo, gave birth in the school’s restroom. This prompted the Limpopo Education Department to open an investigation, SABC News reported.

The 16-year-old learner delivered without any help at the school premises. The girl’s mother says she was seven months pregnant.

There have been many reports over the years about the high percentage of pregnant learners at the school.

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The inquiry, according to Suzan Xithlelani of the Limpopo Department of Education, will focus on whether or not the school knew the student was pregnant.

“We heard about the incident that happened in Mulaudzi Secondary School; the problem is that they did not even notify the department about the learner who is pregnant, because normally they had to punch in the information of learner pregnancy in their School Administration Management System (SAMS) so that we are aware of learners who are pregnant in Mulaudzi, but without the SAMS and EMIS to give us the information we are not aware but what the department is doing is to check if any educator were aware,” says Xithlelani.

An estimated 150 000 girls between the age group of 10 and 19 years old, falling pregnant in the 2022/23 financial year, according to South Africa’s the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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