Plan International [to 18 April 2015]
http://plan-international.org/about-plan/resources/media-centre

16/04/2015:
Pregnant teenagers banned from school in Sierra Leone
16 April 2015: Pregnant teenage girls are not being allowed back to the classroom as schools reopen this week across Sierra Leone after months of closure due to the Ebola crisis.

The Sierra Leonean government has said statistics prove that pregnant girls always fail when they take their exams.

The authorities managing the school openings also claimed it is not morally right to encourage the sight of pregnant girls in schools.

Both the government and the authorities have said girls can return to school after they have given birth.

Girls have a right to education
Plan International has expressed its concern over this measure, emphasising that girls who are pregnant have a right to education.

Casely Coleman, Country Director of Plan Sierra Leone, said: “Plan expresses its concern over the decision by the Ministry of Education not to allow pregnant girls to return to school and write their exams,” he said.

“Plan urges the government to reconsider that decision, as access to education is a fundamental human right and is also a powerful weapon to address teenage pregnancy and other forms of child abuses.”

Thousands of Sierra Leonean children who have missed out on lessons since July 2014 are now returning to classes to continue their studies.

Plan has joined a consortium of child protection agencies to engage with government to reconsider the decision to ban pregnant girls from school…