Mozambique Ministry of Education cancels misogynist decree against pregnant schoolgirls

The Mozambican Ministry of Education has revoked a misogynist decree of 2003 which ordered all pregnant schoolgirls to attend night classes, and banned them from day classes.

The spokesperson for the Ministry, Manuel Simbine, cited in Monday's issue of the Maputo daily Noticias, made excuses for the 2003 decree, claiming that it responded to the specific context of the time, characterised by violence in the schools, and a high number of teenage pregnancies and of girls dropping out of school.

"The current scenario is different. Society now thinks differently. We have to accommodate the new vision, thoughts, realities and conditions of learning that we didn't have in 2003. Today we have means of keeping pregnant girls at school during the day, and one of them is distance learning," he said, All Africa reported.

A spokesperson for the Movement, Tassiana Tome, said that repealing the decree is an important step forward in defending the rights of women and girls. "There are still many challenges to guarantee gender equity in access to education, and to combat the various forms of violence against girls, inside and outside school, ranging from sexual harassment to forced marriages," she opined.