The Women’s Probono Initiative (WPI) has called on the government of Uganda to ensure that learning institutions implement the revised guidelines for the management of teenage pregnancy in school settings.
The organisation made the call after the Bishop of Mukono Diocese directed all schools established by the Church of Uganda to stop their students who are pregnant and nursing mothers from attending classes.
According to local media reports, Bishop James Ssebagala gave the directive on 08 January, 2021, in Kayunga District while bidding fare well to Christians ahead of his retirement this year.
He said although it was good for parents to support girls who are pregnant, it was not morally upright to allow them sit in class with other children.
‘All headteachers, I want to tell you that we shall not allow pregnant or breastfeeding girls in class’, the Daily Monitor quoted the bishop as saying.
‘When all girls turn up, carry out the usual medical examination so that those found pregnant can go back and give birth. They will come back after giving birth.
‘Imagine someone saying even breastfeeding ones should be allowed to attend class. No, this we shall not accept because our schools were started purposely not only to impart knowledge but also discipline in children’.
Reacting to the clergyman’s comments, the WPI said that his utterances amounted to psychological violence.
The rights organisation described the bishop’s directive as illegal and an abuse of human rights of the girl child protected under Article 21, 30, 32, 33 and 34 of Uganda’s constitution.
Article 21 of the Uganda constitution states that a person shall not be discriminated against on the grounds of sex, race, colour, ethnic origin, tribe, birth, creed or religion, or social or economic standing, political opinion or disability.
Article 30 declares that all persons have a right to education while article 33 says women shall be accorded full and equal dignity of the person with men.
Similarly, Article 32 says the state (Uganda) shall take affirmative action in favour of groups marginalised on the basis of gender, age, disability or any other reason created by history, tradition or custom, for the purpose of redressing imbalances which exist against them.
‘We have written to the bishop’s office asking that the directive be withdrawn within two days and that the Church of Uganda should direct schools under his leadership/oversight to put in place reasonable accommodations, including structural and policy changes, to ensure pregnant girls and breastfeeding girls participate in all school activities on an equal footing with their male counterparts’, WPI said in a statement.
Zimbabwe, in 2020, made the expulsion of schoolgirls who get pregnant illegal, less than one year after a Nigerian state, Ekiti, banned the practice.
The authorities in Zimbabwe took that action after it was noticed that many Zimbabwean girls were dropping out of school due to pregnancy or marriage reasons.
In Nigeria, although the country’s Child Rights Act protects the rights of girls to education during and after pregnancy, many girls, it has been observed, continue to face expulsion.
In late 2019, the government of Ekiti State, southwest Nigeria, laid down the marker in the country by coming up with a policy banning the practice of expelling students who got impregnated while in school.
Also, the government of Sierra Leone was in December 2019 ordered by the ECOWAS court to lift a policy banning pregnant students from attending schools.
It was learnt that the policy, supported by patriarchal beliefs that disapprove of women attending school once pregnant or after they have given birth, was first adopted in 2015.
But in the ruling, the court found the policy to be unlawful and in breach of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ rights and international law.
Source: The Women’s Probono Initiative
Photo source: DFID
