INGCABAHA is in the community to comment on the policies that affect the way schools should handle the issue of student pregnancies.
These official terms, the Basic Educations Laws Act (Bela), were released by the Minister of Basic Education, Ms. Siviwe Gwarube for the public to comment on.
He said these policies protect the right of a student who is pregnant while at school.
“It ensures that a pregnant student must be supported by the school while she is pregnant. It also ensures that she must return to school once she has given birth, she cannot be expelled or denied to return to school,” he said.
He said schools should not abuse a student who is pregnant or ostracize her.
“In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, they must be supported when they are not pregnant or when they have given birth so that they can be given counseling. A great distance has been traveled in this country to protect pregnant students,” said Ms. Gwarube.
He said the time has passed when pregnant students were expelled from schools because they were pregnant.
“Their expulsion increased the level of them dropping out of school, without finishing. We want every student to have the opportunity to finish school without being discriminated against.”
Another thing he revealed is that it will be important to report students under the age of 16 who are pregnant.
“They must be reported immediately to the Department of Community Development as well as to the police so that there can be an intervention.”
Teachers’ unions have complained about the removal of details of these policies that affect schools, following the passing of this law. There was a lot of noise about this law when there were public meetings as there were some who rejected it. Another content in it is that Grade R is now compulsory in this country, whereas previously Grade 1 was compulsory.
There are still other policies that will be released after the completion regarding the pregnancy of the students.
Ms Gwarube said people can send their comments to: (email protected). They can do this within 30 days since the announcement was published in the government document, on March 25, 2026.