6 stranded pupils impregnated in Katete

LACK of boarding facilities at Kapoche Secondary School in Katete has led to six stranded pupils getting pregnant in the nearby village where they were squatting, school head teacher Acrimina Banda has disclosed.

Ms Banda however, said about 20 pupils that fell pregnant in 2016 have been readmitted at the school this year under the re-entry policy.

Speaking when special assistant to the President for Project Implementation and Monitoring Andrew Chellah visited the school, which is still under construction yesterday, Ms Banda revealed that the girls fell pregnant due to vulnerability in the villages where they were squatting as the school had no boarding facilities.

“We have girls who come from very far areas such as Chanida border and Sinda but because we don't have boarding facilities at Kapoche, they ended up renting in the villages where villagers are taking advantage of them.

“Just in term one, we had six girls impregnated by villagers and we have no control over it because all that is happening outside the school,” Ms. Banda said.

She explained that boarding facilities work as a protection as pupils' movements and actions were regulated on a daily basis unlike in the villages where they had no supervison.

She called on the government and other stakeholders to help with construction materials and money to erect dormitories so as to protect the girls.

And Ms Banda said under the re-entry policy, 20 girls who had left school after falling pregnant have been allowed back.

She said the school had been offering guidance, counselling and sexual reproduction education in the school to ensure they did not feel neglected or stigmatised. Meanwhile, Mr Chellah, who donated some undisclosed amount of money towards the construction of the dormitories, said Government will do everything possible to ensure facilities for both girls and boys were erected soon.

Mr Chellah told Ms Banda that it was sad that the contractor was not on site to finish works when he had been paid the previous month.

He also said the re-entry policy was one of the successful policies in women empowerment that had worked well by ensuring that girls were given a chance to complete their education, thereby reducing poverty levels among women.