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Can Students Be Excluded or Expelled Because of Pregnancy?

In Zimbabwe a pupil cannot be excluded or expelled from school on the basis of pregnancy. Inspite of the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture Policy Circular Minute of 1999 (MoESC Policy Minute), teenage pregnancy in Zimbabwe continues to be one of the significant reasons of school drop outs in the country.

In fact, section 68C of the Education Act [Chapter 25:04] provides that no pupil is to be excluded from school on the basis of pregnancy in Zimbabwe. Thus, government and non – governmental schools cannot suspend students who fall pregnant whilst at school. Any policy which limits a pregnant learner’s fundamental right to basic education by requiring them to be excluded from school or to repeat up to an entire year of schooling has the negative effect of irretrievably altering the pupil’s future and may be regarded as unconstitutional.