According to the Burundi ministry of education, for 2022-2023 period at least 879 students dropped out from school due to unwanted pregnancy out of the estimated 551,638.
This was revealed during an event steered by the Organization of First Ladies of Africa in Burundi (OPDAD-Burundi) on Wednesday last week, the event was part of an awareness campaign for young students in schools on sexual and reproductive health, HIV / AIDS and nutrition for the year 2023 – 2024 in Bujumbura.
“This campaign comes at a time when we have noticed cases of school dropouts due to unwanted pregnancy have been recorded at a time when the country’s objective is for every child of school age to attend school and complete their studies,” said Mr. Hermenegilde Burikukiye deputy Minister of National Education and Scientific Research.
Mr. Burikukiye noted that the statistics of school dropout for the period of 2022-2023 had a slight decline compared to 2021-2022 academic year.
“The 2021-2022 school yearf a total of 467,222 students across the country 1,019 cases of school dropout linked to unwanted pregnancies were recorded…the place for girls is at school and not in the maternity ward,” said the deputy minister.
The country’s ministry of education called on parents to be vigilant and educate their children about good morals and sexual education in efforts to fight against adultery and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.
The minister’s statement echoed the government’s plan of encouraging more girls to finish their studies in effort to nurture an educated generation for the generations to come.