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Zimbabwe college students who fall pregnant during the course of their studies continue to face threats from intolerant authorities within the tertiary institutions, legislators have observed.
Under Zimbabwean systems, it is within students’ Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) to conceive during training at tertiary institutions.
Presenting oral evidence on SRHR services in training colleges before parliament’s Higher and Tertiary Education portfolio committee recently, Higher and Tertiary Education secretary Fanuel Tagwira said female students received fair treatment when they fell pregnant.
This was however strongly disputed by Hwange Central legislator Daniel Molokele who observed some female college authorities were ironically among the worst violators of fellow women’s rights within the institutions.
“Those women are the most patriarchal women you can find in the country,” Molokele said.
“They are the ones who say to students during orientation week, ‘do not get pregnant; if you get pregnant, there shall be consequences’.”
The lawmaker said he got this during a fact-finding mission to colleges by the committee sometime before.
“We have women who are in positions of authority in colleges telling students, some of them married or in relationships that allow them to have children yet they tell them if you get pregnant, there are consequences.
“There are students who defer to the following year because they fell pregnant. It’s happening right now in the colleges.
“The minister and permanent secretary must not assume that all these women they have understand SRHR issues.
“There has to be special training for those in positions of authority to make them understand that it is not a crime to fall pregnant if you are a student,” Molokele said.
Belvedere Teachers College principal, Juliana Mbofana however said her institution remained responsive to SRHR as even pregnant applicants were still allowed to enrol for courses.
“Pregnant students are enrolled all the time and they learn until the point of delivery because we do not want them to be disadvantaged,” she said. ZimLive
