admin
The citizens have shown greater appreciation of the fact that education is the gateway to success, a weapon that can be used to dismantle generational poverty cycles. With this warm acceptance of the economic system, focus has since shifted on the attainment of basic primary education, rather the value pronounced to higher learning — a degree, diploma or professional qualifications of any kind is now awarded maximum respect than ever before.
In a continent where women are known to grow 80 percent of the food, it is no doubt that furthering their capacities and productive output through education will boost the nations and societies.
In a document titled “The State of World Population 1992,” UNFPA states that, “There can be no sustainable development without development for women because it is women who contribute more for the development of children.” In Africa and Zimbabwe specifically, the saying “To educate a woman is to educate the nation” is now everyone’s favourite phrase.
With all the mileage that the nation attained in gaining the status of a gender just society, little did policy makers ever think of analysing the practicality and implementation of the same policies that we so much base our arguments on. According to some of these policies, the reproductive role of women can be considered to be a barrier to the full empowerment of women through attaining higher education.
It is a fact that working women are given up to three months leave days after delivering their babies. Contrary, students in tertiary institutions are given only two weeks before they are expected to come back to school (As according to the Policy Circular minute 35, 1999). Is this period sufficient?
In the two weeks that we are talking about, the assumption is that the mother would have given birth through the normal and conventional way. How about those women who develop complications in those maternity wards? Let’s take an example of women who deliver through Caesarean section. Will the women be physically fit enough to come back to the lecture rooms and deal with class tests, notes, endless assignments and group works?
University or college work can be so demanding that with the stress, the pressure and excitement and or other psychological challenges that women face after giving birth would definitely compromise their class performance. And in the long run, with such educational policies I don’t think that will produce the quality female graduates that we need as a nation.
Many Zimbabweans still remember the “Wazara case” where a female student sued a teacher training college in Harare after she was denied to continue her education after falling pregnant. The resultant Policy Circular Minute 35, 1999, is widely celebrated for providing rescue to women as it grants them the right to continue with their education after falling pregnant. But a policy alone will not solve the problem.
That students fall pregnant while at colleges, universities or even high school is not a challenge common in Zimbabwe only, but in many developing countries and even western developed countries. In Namibia, official statistics on pregnancy-related school drop-outs in 2007 show that a total of 1 465 learners dropped out for this reason — with 96 percent of them being girls. The responsible ministry in that neighbouring country contends that schools must confront this situation by rendering support, rather than punishing the learners who are to become parents.
In its strategic plan, one of the leading organisations in the country dealing with sexual and reproductive health issues in youths and the students’ community, the Students and Youth Working on Reproductive Health Action Team (SAYWHAT) emphasises the need for support provision and information sharing on the issues to do with pregnancies. The strategic plan states that, “Poverty tempts many young women into transactional sexual relationships. Female students in tertiary institutions are particularly affected . . . Transactional sex exposes the young women to the danger of unwanted pregnancies that could end one’s academic pursuits . . . Under these circumstances, SAYWHAT seeks to promote preventive sexual behaviour as the best option for the students. In this respect, there is need to promote information and knowledge sharing among students on contraception, abortion and other sexual and reproductive health issues”
But outside the need for prevention of pregnancies, social pressure is also a big challenge. Chris Argyris and Donald Schon’s action science theories of human action, the theories-in-use and the espoused theories of action can help explain this. They argue that meanings that people give to given situations and their actions in a formal organisation seem to be influenced more by their social and cultural background than the organisation’s official policy. Put into context, the existence of the array of gender-related policies that we have in the country, and conventions that we have ratified, may not necessarily solve the challenges that women face in the 21st century. Socially constructed beliefs, and ideologies seem to be dictating and defining right or wrong albeit the need to promote justice and equality between men and women.
In one of his writings, “Loss of learning space within a legally inclusive education system: institutional responsiveness to mainstreaming of pregnant learners in formal education,” researcher Tawanda Runhare stresses that socio-cultural beliefs of the community on pregnancy are more influential to educational access and participation of pregnant students than the official school or university policy.
This means a double tragedy for pregnant students for not only are they trapped under the limits of a gender-blind policy with regards to pregnancy issues, but also disturbing is the existence of a society which seems to be failing to learn that education for all is fundamental.
Prior to this writing, I sourced some comments from some of the colleges here in Zimbabwe through the popular social media, Facebook. Their views tallied with the whole argument in this piece. The majority did not take it as a right for pregnant students to continue with their education. They took it as a privilege arguing that schooling and attending to pregnancy demands will never match.
A male student from an agriculture college believes abstinence is the only wise and informed option.
“Two weeks is enough! Female students must abstain from engaging in sex (protected or unprotected) during the course of their studies,” he said.
The student seems to ignore that for some of the agriculture colleges, vocational skills training colleges and primary school teacher training colleges have a population whose average age ranges from 30-35 years. Usually, more than 80 percent of the student population are usually married, thus disqualifying abstinence as the best solution.
Former Nust student, Mr Andrew G thinks a short leave period for female students after delivering their babies is in their best interest.
“The academic calendar and education system the world over benefits only those who can attend lectures. The earlier these students come back the better for them because no one can continue their studies on their behalf. The more a student is absent from class the more the loss on their part.”
Colleen from Harare Institute of Technology says, “As married tertiary women, we need sex. However two weeks for a tertiary student after giving birth is good. This is because the student should catch up and it is for her own benefit not of the ministry. This is in contrast to working ladies. I suppose allowing a female student to return to college after two weeks of giving birth is a platform for empowering them.”
Other students did not have kind words with students who fall pregnant during their school time
“Most colleges have a 3-4 months long semester/term. It is virtually impossible for an average student to catch on after missing a month’s worth of lectures and tutorials. If you are a female student and are about to deliver then just defer the semester unless you are some sort of genius, have money enough to buy the exam or the father of your child is the lecturer,” said one male student from a college in Harare
However, some male students say the system is unfair to the female student.
Gesture Mamhinga said, “The duties and responsibilities aligned to baby caring are just the same for both the working mother and the tertiary student. However, this then means that a lot of planning is needed especially on the part of a student.”
Speaking to the majority of college authorities on this issue, their argument is that the first priority for a student at university or college is to get education, not maternity services. But while education is needed for women, society also pressures women to play their reproductive role without compromise.
What the responses from the students portray is that socialisation has made even the same female students believe and accept that falling pregnant is a stop sign for the continuation of education. Worse still, even female students are supportive of that, bringing live the arguments by Chinua Achebe that “Women are always agents of their own oppression.”
Writer Chipo Chirimuuta in her piece “Gender and the Zimbabwe Education Policy: Empowerment or Perpetuation of Gender Imbalances,” argues that policies are not playing much a role in promoting women education when they fall pregnant.
She says, “Even though the policy accords the pregnant student the right to continue with her education until she completes her courses, the woman is ostracised and castigated for allowing herself to be abused. She really goes through hell with all the jeering, laughing, and giggling from fellow students who are further attracted to her situation by the administrators viewing her as a disciplinary case.”
Evidence-based arguments from our society and universities are that the reproductive role of women is now a millstone to their empowerment through education. The existing policies, or perhaps the system, are gender-blind in their failure to provide the best possible environment that allows students who fall pregnant to smoothly pursue their academic dreams.
l Jephiter Tsamwi recently graduated from Nust. He can be contacted on 0733854681 or [email protected]
Online Reporter