DURBAN - BASIC Education Minister Angie Motshekga has called on parents and traditional leaders to revisit their objections to the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), saying it was key to fighting the scourge of teenage pregnancy.
“We are concerned about the alarming rate of teenage pregnancies in the country. Let us be clear that it is not just a problem of Gauteng, it is a national crisis,” she said while addressing the media yesterday.
Motshekga was speaking following a report that revealed that teenagers in the Gauteng area had fallen pregnant.
The media briefing was aimed at giving an update on the impact of Covid-19 on schools.
She said most of the teenagers who had fallen pregnant were of school going age.
“It is a serious indictment on all of us as a society and we really need to reflect deeply on this crisis and take urgent action to arrest the moral decay.
“Early unwanted pregnancy perpetuates poverty and it disrupts the growth and development of our young people. It also contributes to the worrying drop-out rate that we are fighting so hard to reduce,” she said.
“It has become even more urgent that as a nation we act together collaboratively on this matter as it threatens the future of the country as a whole,” said the minister.
She said for its part, the Department of Basic Education and its stakeholders would intensify the implementation of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education which aimed to empower young people with age appropriate information.
“We will need once again to mobilise our communities and stakeholders to unite against this scourge. The time has come to bury our differences with the religious sector, the traditional leadership, parents, guardians and all others who opposed the implementation of CSE,” she said.
THE MERCURY