Sylvia Tamale
12 November 2008
opinion
Kampala — The New Vision of November 10, carried a story in which the Minister of Education, Namirembe Bitamazire, stated that her ministry was planning to introduce a stringent policy that forbids pregnant students from sitting UNEB examinations ("Pregnant Students Policy to be Reviewed").
She was quoted as saying: "The school is meant for studying not producing children. We cannot be seen to condone a situation where girls get pregnant when they are still in school. This is immorality."
Such a policy would be disastrous for women in this country. Many young women become pregnant as a result of rape or defilement. Many times such rapes are committed by close relatives or acquaintances of the victims. Given that abortion is illegal in Uganda, does Bitamazire want to subject such a victim to a double sentence, namely carrying her rapists' baby and being denied chance to study?
It was both amusing and ironic that the same day that Bitamazire's story came out, The Daily Monitor carried another entitled: "70-year-old sits A-Level exams today." This implies that education has no age boundaries. Bitamazire asked the rhetorical question: "Why can't they wait to finish the education cycle and they start having children?" This sounds very much like an attempt to decree the point in time when a woman should have a baby. Is the minister going to dictate to a 35-year-old woman who decides to return to A-level when to conceive?
But even if the candidate got pregnant as a result of consensual sex with her classmate, won't the minister be employing double standards when she targets the pregnant girl, and does not touch her boyfriend? Would it be fair for her to miss her examinations while he sits for the same examinations without any penalty?
The right to education is given wide prominence in our Constitution and many legal instruments. Women's education is especially emphasised. The minister would be committing a terrible mistake by mixing up this fundamental right with issues of morality. Her role is to ensure that as many Ugandans as possible have access to education.
The writer is a lecturer of law at Makerere University
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