29/08/2023
For many years Zambian girls were obliged to leave school permanently if they became pregnant. In 1997, the Government of the Republic of Zambia introduced the Re-entry Policy that requires all schools to grant girls maternity leave and readmit them to facilitate girls’ education.
Research on the policy’s implementation and impact is scarce. One of the few studies of the policy found that, nationally, secondary school reentry rates among girls who became pregnant decreased from 79 percent in 2002 to 65 percent in 2008, where they remained until 2014 (Ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education (MESVTEE) 2002-2014).
Approximately 30 percent of the Zambian female population begins childbearing by the age of 19 (Central Statistical Office 2007 and 2013-14), and secondary school enrollment and graduation rates are consistently lower for female than for male learners (MESVTEE 1996 and 2014).
Government of the Republic of Zambia introduced the re-entry policy in 1997 to address the problem of girls dropping out of school after falling pregnant.
The Forum for African Women Educationalists of Zambia (FAWEZA) Executive Director Costern Kanchele says the school re-entry policy has helped increase women’s literacy levels and has given women a chance to contribute to national development hence also the need for government enact into law the re-entry policy.
"When the Re-entry policy is enacted, it will compel all duty bearers to re-enter all the girls that want to go back to school after giving birth, especially those in grant aided schools which do not administer re-entry after pregnancy," He said
He says many girls have benefited from the re-entry policy therefore there is no need to abolish it on account that it is being abused by school girls.
He said many girls who have been given a second chance after falling pregnant are doing well in secondary school education.
Mr. Kanchele stated that the re-entry policy has enabled a significant number of girls to go back to school after maternity leave.
Mr. Kanchele said instead of abolishing the policy, there is need for school administrators to fully engage communities for them to understand the importance of the re-entry policy.
And NGOCC Executive Director Anne Mbewe Anamela says there is nedd to come up with strategies and funding programmes to make sure that every girl child is back in school.
Speaking an interview, Ms Anamela said when a girl falls pregnant it is not just the failure of the girl, built also the failure of the community, and failure of the household to give the girl the guidance and the support that the girl child needs and also the failure of the schools system to ensure that the girl is actually meant to believe that her potentials are huge and her ambitions in life should go beyond marriage.
She observed that there are children in the communities that are orphans and government and traditional leaders should take responsibility of such children.
"There are so many factors that keep children out of schools and poverty is one of them, government needs to come in to make sure that within a limited radius there are schools that are available for children to go too and well funded with the same way they have introduced free Education," She said.
She said the government should ensure that teachers are equipped and trained to be able to deliver the education that will create opportunities for young people.
“The case of girl education in most rural and customary communities girls education is not valued the same extent as the boys saying that culture leaders have a role to play interms of bringing the education to the community to make the community realize the cost and what they lose out by keeping girls out of school” she said
Mary Lumbala, a grade 12 at Lubanda Secondary School in Itezhi Tezhi in Chief Chikaza Munyama's Village fall pregnant at the age of 17 while she was in grade 10 and immediately dropped out of school.
She was at the brink of forfeiting her potential and future like many other girls, however through interaction with her friends who attended the CSE club, she had access to information on the re-entry policy coupled with the introduction of free Education Mary was supported to return to school. Mary, is now in her final grade of the secondary school and aspires to become a medical doctor.
Many learners in Chief Chikaza Munyama's Village live in the outskirts of the District, often covering long distances to get to school everyday while others are forced to rent small houses in the school vicinity where they fend for themselves. As a result,many learners often engage in informal work to earn money for food and rent, while female learners become vulnerable to transactional sex, resulting in unplanned pregnancies and STIs. Furthermore, due to stigma, many learners who either become pregnant or infected with HIV often drop out of School.
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