Section27 fights for pregnant girl to write matric
BARRING a pupil from school on the grounds of pregnancy is discriminatory, a judge has said.
Armed with this judgment, a Grade 12 pupil was able to start writing her exams this week at the same technical high school in Kwazulu-natal that had expelled her when she disclosed that she was pregnant.
Section27, which assisted her in a legal bid to force the principal of the school and the Kwazulu-natal department of education to allow her to write her exams at the school, said it was told that her expulsion in July was in terms of the school’s pregnancy policy.
Attorney in the Education Rights Programme at Section27, Zeenat Sujee, wrote a letter of demand to the school and the education authorities on behalf of the pupil and her parents.
The pupil was also told her expulsion was in terms of the school pregnancy policy.
“We are aware that there a few other learners that have similarly been expelled for being pregnant. We are still securing instructions from these learners and their families,” Sujee said.
In the letter to the eduction authorities, she pointed out that the national policy on the prevention and management of pupil pregnancy stated expressly that barring a pupil from school on the grounds of pregnancy was discriminatory.
In terms of the policy, schools are required to take all necessary steps to reasonably accommodate the pupil to facilitate her continuing education.
Sujee pointed to a Constitutional Court judgment in which it was held that the expulsion of pregnant pupils from schools is a prima facie violation of their rights to a basic education, equality and dignity.
In a similar case it was held that barring a matric pupil from writing his or her final exam was a violation of their rights to a basic education.
The court in that case said: “Access to a school is a necessary condition for the achievement of the right to education”.
It was further said that access to an exam, especially one integral to completing schooling, was another important component for the achievement of this right.
In her letter of demand, Sujee said based on the Constitutional Court judgment, no pupil should be excluded from writing a matric exam.
Section27 demanded the school governing body review its pregnancy policy in accordance with recent policy developments and Constitutional Court jurisprudence.
The matter was meanwhile settled before it headed to court after the department provided an undertaking to allow the pupil to write the exam and to set aside the school’s pregnancy policy with immediate effect. The pupil is writing her exams at another centre.
Sujee told Saturday Star’s sister paper the Pretoria News the objective of national policy on the prevention of and management of pupil pregnancy was to ensure pregnant pupils were retained and allowed to return to their appropriate grades.
“Specifically, it confirms that there should be no exclusion of pregnant learners, who must be allowed to remain in school during their pregnancies and return soon after giving birth…”
For its part, the school was required to accommodate the reasonable needs of the pupil to ensure that her right to education was not disrupted or ended by pregnancy or birth, Sujee said.
Thus schools must allow the pregnant pupil to remain in school during and after pregnancy. In terms of the policy, pupils who are over six months pregnant will be required to submit a medical certificate indicating the status of their pregnancy and estimated delivery date.
The pregnant pupil will also be asked to provide medical reports to her appointed teacher or principal certifying it is safe for her to continue with her schooling if she wishes to stay in school beyond 30 weeks of pregnancy.
“If the learner does not provide this information and fails to provide an explanation, she may be asked to take a leave of absence until medical proof is provided. Medical information provided by the learner to the principal shall be strictly confidential to protect the learner’s right to privacy,” Sujee explained.