Question NW1030 to the Minister of Basic Education
07 August 2017 - NW1030
Boshoff, Ms SH to ask the Minister of Basic Education
With reference to her reply to question 127 on 23 March 2017, (a) when will the data for Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal be available and (b) why does her department not track whether or not pupils who fall pregnant return to school after giving birth?
Reply:
(a)
Table 1 below indicates that, in 2016, there were 803 learners who fell pregnant in KwaZulu-Natal. The majority of these learners were in Grade 12 at 201 learners. With regards to availability of Mpumalanga data, the Department will indicate as soon as the province responds.
Table 1: Number of learners who fell pregnant, by grade, in KwaZulu-Natal, in 2016
|
Province |
Grade 3 |
Grade 4 |
Grade 5 |
Grade 6 |
Grade 8 |
Grade 9 |
Grade 10 |
Grade 11 |
Grade 12 |
Other |
Total |
|
KZN |
19 |
17 |
22 |
19 |
29 |
63 |
158 |
178 |
201 |
97 |
803 |
Source: KZN 2016 Annual School Survey
Note 1: The Annual School Survey question on learner pregnancy asks the school principal for: “the number of learners (That they are aware of) who got pregnant the previous academic year”.
Note 2: The data, as received from the province, are preliminary and must be treated with caution, since it has not been published in this format.
(b)
The basic education system does not track this at the moment. Tracking the return of learners after giving birth may be something we could explore in future as a sector. However, we have a policy that does not prevent learners from returning. Parents have a responsibility to ensure that learners return to school after giving birth, not the Department necessarily