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NVGO Advocates for Zero Discrimination against Teen Mothers in School

NVGO Advocates for Zero Discrimination against Teen Mothers in School

Plan International Malawi has asked for zero discrimination against teen mothers being re-admitted into primary and secondary schools by school management.

The NGO’s Communications and Campaigns Manager Rodgers Siula said this during the launch of a refined re-admission policy for primary and secondary schools by government in Blantyre.

“Plan International Malawi believes education should be available and accessible to all children on the basis of equal opportunity and non-discrimination, and that every child must be able to access and complete an inclusive, quality pre-primary and secondary education in order to meet global commitments,” Siula said.

He said that the newly-launched revised policy is a great milestone as it incorporates various education and gender aspects related to Malawi, including the constitution.

Siula stated that it is also aligned to International protocols and national goals and policies like the Sustainable Development Goals SGD’s the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy MDGS 111 for 2017 to 2021.

African Institute for Development Policy Senior Knowledge Translation Scientist, Dr. Steve Shara, believes the policy has addressed the gaps existed in the previous policy to achieve the purpose.

“From the way the policy was implemented it had some gaps as many stakeholders didn’t have the policy to refer to, which affected the implementation of the policy,” Dr Sharra said.

Dr Sharra also said some teachers were accusing teen mothers as bad influencers to their fellow learners, saying this was contributed to discrimination against the re-admitted girls.

He, therefore, says he believes school administrators have been widely consulted on the matter for proper implementation.

The Ministry of Education, Science & Technology enacted the re-admission policy in 1993 as a milestone in achieving the promotion of teen mothers’ continuity with formal education.

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