Education
(a) How many pregnancies at schools have been registered amongst children in Western Cape schools of the age group (i) between 10 and 14 and (ii) 15 and 18, (b) how many pregnancies have been terminated, (c) how many of these pregnancies is because of sexual abuse and (d) how many of these pregnancies involved, (i) teachers, (ii) managers, (iii) Senior Management and (iv) other learners?
My department has informed me of the following:
(a) The custodian of medical records is the Department of Health. The only data the WCED receives is via the Annual School Survey, through which schools report pregnancies for the previous year. E.g. for the 2018 Annual School Survey, a school will report on the total number of pregnancies amongst its learners for the 2017 academic year. The data contains information for both Public Ordinary and Public Special Needs Education schools.
We are only able to provide pregnancy information surveyed in 2018, 2019 and 2020, as the 2021 Annual School Survey (both sectors) has not been completed yet.
Learners fell pregnant in 2017 (2018 ASS) | 2 208 |
Learners fell pregnant in 2018 (2019 ASS) | 2 159 |
Learners fell pregnant in 2019 (2020 ASS) | 2 283 |
The WCED does not have statistics on pregnancies by age group. This information can be obtained from the Department of Health.
(b) The WCED does not have statistics on termination of pregnancies. This information can be obtained from the Department of Health.
(c) and (d) As noted above, schools only report the total number of pregnancies for the previous year as part of the ASS, and not the case details. As such, the WCED does not have a breakdown of this data by circumstances or parties involved.
