Just let teen moms learn!

By Jaevion Nelson

The disquiet regarding the reintegration of adolescents who give birth is unsettling. Some educators are now pretending they support the policy, but are very concerned about girls returning to the school they attended before getting pregnant. They fear adolescent mothers might be discriminated against; so they suggest sending them to new schools (see Support for Pregnant Students, Jamaica Gleaner - November 24, 2013).

Girls who get pregnant need to be reintegrated and given support to help prevent a second pregnancy that is untimely; not treated as a problem. As the Minister of Education, Hon Ronald Thwaites said, every girl should be educated "no matter what her circumstances, even if she got pregnant and had a child. We [should] lift her up, and make sure she gets the best opportunity.' This is crucial so they can be employable and able to feed her child (ren)."

But what is all the moral row for? It's about girls who are part of the population of 540,000 adolescents living in Jamaica. These girls account for about 18 to 20 per cent of live births each year. Can you imagine if we included the ones that were terminated? And as we are now well aware (hopefully!), Section 31(2) of The Education Regulations of 1980 stipulates that they be "excluded" from attending school and leaves the decision for their reintegration up to the minister. Section 31(3) also has language about allowing pregnant girls to sit "important examinations" to complete their education.

unjust law

In September 2013, the Policy on the Reintegration of Adolescent Mothers into the Formal Education System came into effect (after being approved by Cabinet in May 2013!). See http://jis.gov.jm/policy-launched-ensure-teen-mothers-continue-education/. Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, who boldly brought this unjust law to our attention, must be commended. Likewise, the Ministry of Education and the Women's Centre of Jamaica Foundation, for quickly developing a policy making it "mandatory" adolescent mothers to attend the school of their choosing.

While this is a step in the right direction, can the minister say whether the policy can supersede the code? It seems that schools' administrators and others (and there are many of them) who are projecting their "morality" can still claim the protection of the law to exclude pregnant girls. If the minister of education is truly serious about the implementation of the policy, he should quickly amend the relevant sections as promised in the policy. That would certainly remove all doubt and routes of avoidance.

I am eager to remind us about what is happening with our adolescents. The National Family Planning Board using the results of the 1975 Jamaica Fertility Survey, the 1983, 1989, and 1993 Contraceptive Prevalence Surveys and the 1997, 2002 and 2008 Reproductive Health Surveys, shows that:

56.4% of adolescent girls (10-15 years) are abstaining and 38.5% of boys are, (2008 Reproductive Health Survey).

Approximately 44% of females aged 15-19 and 61.5 percent of males in the same age cohort are sexually experienced.

46% of females under 13, at their first intercourse, had a partner who was six or more years older while only 8.4% of males had a partner with the same age difference.

58% of females aged 15-19 do not use contraception at the time of their first intercourse because they did not expect to have sex and 17% said because of negligence

79.5% of females had one sexual partner and 9.5 percent had two sexual partners.

81% of recent births were unplanned and nearly all were mistimed (i.e. occurred earlier than desired) as opposed to unwanted (i.e. no children or no more children desired).

Only 35.7% are concerned about getting pregnant and 17.6 of being sexually abused.

Interestingly, nearly all adolescent mothers have a child for someone 20 years or older - only 1.6% of males ages 15-19 report being a father - but the bastions of morality and decency are silent about this. Kudos to Eve for Life on the launch of their Nuh Guh Deh campaign.

I encourage you to close your Bible, lay your warped morals aside and turn off the stage light on your pretence and judgemental attitude to engage with the information intelligently rather than create an alarm.

Let's design holistic social interventions because we know very well that "impoverished, poorly educated and rural girls are more likely to become pregnant than their wealthier, urban, educated counterparts. Girls who are from [...] marginalised group, who lack choices and opportunities in life, or who have limited or no access to sexual and reproductive health, including contraceptive information and services, are also more likely to become pregnant" (see UNFPA State of the World Population 2013).

Jaevion Nelson is a youth development, HIV and human rights advocate. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and jaevion@gmail.com.