While fighting for girls to go back to school,the Forum for African women Educationalists Zambia (FAWEZA) has asked school management in Lusaka to provide open learning streams for girls aged above 28 years.
Mrs Faith Minja, the FAWEZA Programs Manager appealed to school management not to mix the middle aged girls with the younger girls as this may affect the school performance of both groups of learners.
“What notes will they be sharing with the young ones? The older girls will also feel intimidated,” she wondered while in an interview with ZANIS in Luangwa District.
Statistics given by Luangwa District Education Standards Officer Herberty Siankanga say that about 56 school going girls fell pregnant in the district during the COVID -19 period, from February to date.
Siankanga says that the increase in the number of teenage pregnancies in schools in the district is because of lack of parental guidance thus the previous call on parents and other stakeholders to teach the teenage girls on the importance of education.
“Through the Keeping Girls in School (KGS) project, the government has made strides in ensuring that the girls who stopped schools due to pregnancies and early marriages are taken back to school,” said Mr Siankanga.
Mr. Siankanga concluded by explaining that the district has an Open distance learning stream at Luangwa primary for the grade 9 dropouts and those who have never been to school and are above the age of 28.
