Democratisation of formal schooling for pregnant teenagers in South Africa and Zimbabwe : smoke and mirrors in policy
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Date
Authors
Runhare, Tawanda
Mulaudzi, Olga
Vandeyar, Saloshna
Dzimiri, Patrick
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ife Center for Psychological Studies/Services
Abstract
Policies that provide for equitable access to formal education by girls who could fall
pregnant while in school are now common in Africa. However, the benefits of such
policies to the affected girls vary from country to country. This paper critiques postcolonial
legislative and policy frameworks that aim to open educational opportunities to
pregnant teenagers in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Benchmarking with international
conventions such as CEDAW, CRC, EFA and MDG, the paper analyses South Africa and
Zimbabwe’s postcolonial legislations and policies that affect the educational access,
participation and outcomes of pregnant and parenting girls of school going age. The
paper posits that although the observed policy institutionalisation in both countries is
an important measure in democratising formal schooling for girls who could fall
pregnant while at school, that alone is inadequate without strategies aimed at
confronting the negative traditional, social and cultural variables that militate against
pregnant girls who choose to pursue their educational aspirations through the formal
school system.
Description
Keywords
Policy, Educational access, Formal schooling, Pregnancy
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Runhare, T, Mulaudzi, O, Vandeyar, S & Dzimiri, P 2014, 'Democratisation of formal schooling for pregnant teenagers in South Africa and Zimbabwe : smoke and mirrors in policy', Gender and Behaviour, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 6382-6395.