Progress in Right to education for Pregnant Students in Africa/Human Rights Watch Report
3 min read
Pregnant students/adolescent mothers are often discriminated against in educational facilities especially in Africa. Students are dismissed from mostly secondary schools immediately when they are pregnant, as is the case in Cameroon’s secondary schools without taking into consideration the circumstance leading to the pregnancy.
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in teenage pregnancies across the world, especially in developing countries. Prolonged lockdowns and the closing of educational institutions are some of the reasons for the rise in teenage pregnancy. The COVID-19 pandemic has also led to the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health services across the globe.
The lack of statistics on the negative effects of discriminatory laws against pregnant students has further worsened the situation because even the policymakers are unaware of the damage these discriminatory laws are causing to adolescent mothers/pregnant students. Many of them have been out of school and their lives are being frustrated as a result of harsh policies. For example, according to Human Rights Watch report, “The World Bank estimates that 5,500 pregnant students stop going to school every year in Tanzania, although previous estimates indicated that close to 8,000 students have been forced to drop out of school each year.” This is only in one country given that in developing countries there is a lack of data on such cases due to lack of resources and encouraging policies.
The discriminatory policy has been one of the major setbacks in the fight for girls’ rights to education. According to Human Rights Watch, “Since 2019, at least five sub-Saharan African countries – Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and São Tomé e Príncipe – have either revoked restrictive or discriminatory policies or adopted laws or policies that allow pregnant students and adolescent mothers to stay in school under certain conditions.”
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The move by the above-mentioned countries is a welcome one as it directly improves women’s/girl’s rights to education. According to Elin Martinez, senior children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, “More African governments are taking stronger actions to support the rights of girls to education,….But many girls still have to fight against enormous government-imposed barriers that deny them their right to education and make schools turn their backs on them when they most need support.” Most of the time, these girls are violated or legally married and it is not their fault and the discriminatory laws/policies are making them more vulnerable.
Human Rights Watch wrote in their report, “At least 30 African Union (AU) countries now have laws, policies, or strategies to protect pregnant students and adolescent mothers’ right to education. Sierra Leone reversed its policy in 2020, lifting a discriminatory ban against pregnant schoolgirls and teenage mothers and adopting a more robust inclusive education policy.”
Sierra Leone in March 2021 adopted a “Radical Inclusion” that protects the rights of pregnant students to education with conducive conditions. In March 2020 São Tomé e Príncipe also cancelled a ministerial decree that required pregnant students to study in night-shift schools after the third month of pregnancy and for its duration. Etc.
According to Human Rights Watch, in 2018 “at least 26 African Union countries had laws, policies or strategies in place to guarantee girls’ right to go back to school after pregnancy. In 2021 at least 30 AU countries now have laws, policies, or strategies in place that protect pregnant students’ and adolescent mothers’ right to education to varying degrees.” These countries including Cameroon is applause for the promotion and protection of girls’ rights to education taking into consideration their vulnerabilities. Read Details here Human Rights Watch News Report
by Bernyuy Cajetan
Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
