Holistic approach needed to curb teenage pregnancies

A call has been made for the public to tackle the issue of increasing pregnancies of school learners on Tuesday, and not solely rely on the educations department’s curriculums.

This as the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education Co-Chairperson Mbinqo Gigaba said members of the committee raised concerns about the prevalence of teen pregnancies.

Gigaba said in many cases, background and culture did not permit families to discuss sexuality education in the home.

“In some instances, kids don’t even see their parents sober, let alone have a conversation with them.

“Conversations regarding teen pregnancies and sexuality education are important if we want to turn the tide and save our children, especially girls, as they tend to carry the consequences should they fall pregnant. It is not just the responsibility of the Department of Basic Education (DBE), but all of society needs to tackle this matter.”

This comes as the Gauteng province recorded the lowest pregnancies between girls aged 10 and 19 years old since the start of the pandemic and lockdown, unlike other provinces.

According to recent reports, teenage pregnancies in other provinces were increasing since the start of Covid-19.

The reported increases have since led the committee to seek a holistic approach to deal with reducing teenage pregnancy in South Africa.

She said the DBE had briefed the committee on its programmes to address this matter, this week.

In the brief, the department said it had found that girls did not drop out of school because they fall pregnant, but rather, “they fall pregnant because they drop out of school”.

The DBE said that approximately 33% of girls did not return to school after falling pregnant and were likely to experience multiple pregnancies.

Gigaba said this was an emotional matter that needed to be addressed by society at large, as it was broader than the DBE.

“We need a holistic approach,” she said.

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Gigaba heard that the impact of Covid-19 on gender-based violence and teen pregnancies in South Africa spiked within the first week of the total lockdown with 37%.

“School closures and containment measures resulted in a loss of education and social protection, especially for adolescent girls.

“This resulted in significant increases in teen pregnancy, sexual exploitation, sexual violence and forced or early marriages in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Gigaba.

The committee heard that 30% of teenage girls in South Africa fell pregnant and more than 65% of these pregnancies were unplanned.

According to the statistics of deliveries in medical facilities for all provinces, the Northern Cape between April 2020 and March 2021 had the highest number of teen pregnancies of 19.3%, followed by the Eastern Cape with 17.1%, KwaZulu-Natal 16.5% and Mpumalanga 15.5%.

She said Gauteng had, however, recorded the fewest teen pregnancies with 8.9%.

Gigaba said the DBE was also busy with Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) in schools.

“The committee heard that the curriculum is different from sex education. CSE is a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality.

“CSE is offered in a formal setting and is scientifically accurate and culturally relevant. It is based on a human-rights approach and aims to equip children and young people with knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that will empower them.”

She said the DBE informed the committee that the CSE addresses relationships and is developmental and age-appropriate.

Gigaba said it did not compromise the innocence of the child and addressed the psychological, emotional, mental and physiological aspects of the human being which includes morals, life skills and values.

“The DBE denied that CSE leads to early sexual initiation and said instead it leads to later and more responsible sexual behaviour.”

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