Policy Brief:Pregnant Girl Child Education Support and Strategies for Continuation of Education For Adolescent Mothers

In 2020, Zimbabwe adopted the Education Amendment Act, which amends the Education Act to prohibit exclusion based on non-payment of fees and pregnancy, and prohibits discrimination based on pregnancy regarding admission, suspension, exclusion, and expulsion. "No pupil shall be excluded from school for non-payment of school fees or on the basis of pregnancy," the amendments read. The amendment came as a progressive development given that Zimbabwe remains one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with the highest teenage fertility rate in sub-, putting thousands of girls at risk of falling behind. At Independence in 1980, the government embarked on a programme of educational reconstruction and expansion to make access to education a reality for all Zimbabwean children. Equality of educational opportunity for all was a stated aim of the government, and education was perceived not only as a human right but also as an essential means by which deponents and the redress of social inequalities inherited from the colonial period could be attained.