High Number Of Teenage Pregnancies Is Sad Development-Youth Vision

Youth Vision Zambia executive director Amos Mwale has described the high number of teenage pregnancies in the country as a sad development.
And Mwale says Kaoma is not the only district recording an increase in teen pregnancies.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has deployed officials to investigate reports that 30 Kaoma High School pupils have been sent on maternity leave this year.
Mwale in an interview yesterday said the issue of many pupils going on maternity leave was not restricted to Kaoma.
“It is not just in Kaoma, this issue is everywhere. It’s just that some schools are not highlighting this issue. There are a lot of pupils going on maternity leave and it is very sad,” he said. “This is happening everywhere and we don’t know why the Ministry of Education is keeping this information away from the public.”
Mwale said there was need for the government to change its approach in dealing with the problem of teen pregnancies in the country.
He said there was also need to target men and boys who were impregnating the girls, saying they had been left out of the campaign against teenage pregnancies.
“Women organisations should also take an active role in helping reduce teenage pregnancies in the country,” said Mwale.
Meanwhile, Ministry of Education spokesperson Hillary Chipango said in an interview that reports about the 30 pupils who had gone on maternity leave were disheartening and that the government was trying to find amicable solutions to the problem.
“To start with, I think we are very, very saddened as government on the latest development and we can assure you that we have deployed officers to investigate what is really obtaining on the ground,” he said.
Chipango appealed to parents and traditional leaders to enhance sensitization programmes for pupils on the dangers of early pregnancies.
“We are also appealing to parents, traditional leaders and other stakeholders in the education sector to collaborate with government so that together we can find better ways of addressing the scourge,” he said
Chipango further bemoaned the high rate at which school-going children were engaging in illicit activities at the expense of education.
He urged pupils to invest their free time in studies instead of engaging in acts that were ruining their lives.