The proposed law on pregnant students in Ekiti

LAST week, the wife of the governor of Ekiti State, Mrs. Bisi Fayemi, articulated the plan of the state government to abolish the sanction previously imposed on pregnant schoolgirls in the state. Speaking during an advocacy and women empowerment tour across the state, Mrs. Fayemi revealed her passion as a  gender activist.  Apparently spearheading the campaign to ensure that girls complete their education in the state, a campaign tagged ‘Operation Keep Girls in School,’ she was unequivocally strident in her opposition to the practice of expelling pregnant girls from school. She said inter alia: “It is not right for teenagers to engage in sexual relationships. That’s why parents must monitor their female children in school. But any schoolgirl that got impregnated will be allowed to continue her study with the pregnancy and after delivery, she will continue schooling. Our girls must go to school.”

Although the governor’s wife should not be making policy statements since she is neither an elected official of the state nor a political appointee, the argument she has canvassed ought to be considered on its merit. In this regard, it is difficult not to appreciate the passion which Mrs Fayemi espoused in her speech, especially against the backdrop of the plight of the girl-child in the country. It is a fact that in many communities in the country, girls are almost always discriminated against at the slightest excuse. Yet the point must never be forgotten that the broad spectrum of education includes the moral content, without which the whole enterprise becomes insipid and worthless.

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Certificates are usually issued for both learning and character and it is dangerous to place one over the other. As it stands, the new law on pregnant girls in Ekiti schools frowns on any sanction for erring young girls in the desperation to get them educated at all costs. When rules are broken in a society, it is imperative that sanctions be applied for the sake of that society. But the new law in Ekiti State apparently makes light of this, with its proponents insisting that the affected girls should continue their education irrespective of their violation of school rules. Except in cases of rape, it is crucial for pregnant girls to be sanctioned by the authorities for the indiscretion of being involved in sexual relationships while still  in school.

It is also crucial, for the purpose of equity and justice, to find out who impregnated a schoolgirl who faces suspension from school. If the culprit is also a minor, he should also be suspended from school and if it is an adult, the law must take its full course. We understand the importance of education for female children and we do not believe that the education of girls must be stopped just because they got pregnant in the process of being educated. But then, we are also for their moral upbringing and orientation. Much as it is desirable to educate girls, it is equally important to have them in the proper moral frame for the comprehensive advantages of education to ensue for the family specifically, and the society generally. In this regard, we think that suspension from school until they have given birth, rather than outright expulsion, is the way to go.

To be sure, there is an urgent need for gender balance in imposing sanctions on minors involved in sexual misdemeanors. The adult men involved in sexual relationships with schoolgirls should be duly prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the land which prohibit sex with minors. Such men cannot place any reliance on the consent obtained from such girls, simply because in the eyes of the law, minors cannot give consent.  These are some of the issues which the drafting of the law on pregnant students in Ekiti schools should take cognizance of. Putting the education of girls above their moral rectitude might seem expedient, but it amounts to short-circuiting the whole process of getting an education. All the states of the country deserve girls that are not only educated but also morally upright.

Nigerian Tribune