BUJUMBURA August 31st (ABP) – The provincial director of education (DPE) in Bujumbura province (West), Mr. Raphaël Ciza, declared to a check by Burundi News Agency (ABP) that the number of unwanted pregnancies in school year increased in the past school year (202-2023), from 92 cases for the previous school year (2021-2022) to 148 cases.
Mr. Ciza clarified that, although poverty is always put forward as the root cause, the reasons are other than poverty. He continued to point out that during a search carried out last June, they witnessed objects which would push pupils into sexual wandering, the consequence of which was unwanted pregnancies. He cited Android phones, condoms and other objects that distract pupils.
Furthermore, that educator deplored that parents have resigned from their responsibility to support children in their upbringing, leaving this role to teachers. He said that they brought together the parents of the pupils who had the phones. Here, the parents told them that they believed that their responsibility in this regard was only limited to the home. He reminded them that they have the great responsibility, that they are the first and last educators, that they must follow their children by providing them with advice according to the different growth stages.
He ended his remarks by urging parents to return to the yesteryear upbringing of their children by often providing advice for the good behavior of their children. He hoped that the government would legislate and put in place a law that would repress the perpetrators of unwanted pregnancies by considering that any girl in secondary school should be considered a minor, regardless of her age.