LUSAKA, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Over 15,000 girls dropped out of school in Zambia last year due to pregnancies, a parliamentary committee said on Wednesday.
Jonas Chanda, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, Community Development and Social Services, said the figures indicate that there was need for more interventions in order to reduce the number of girls dropping out of school due to pregnancies.
In remarks delivered when the committee called on Minister of General Education Denis Wanchinga, the official further said there was need for strategies that will protect the girl child from dropping out of school to enable them to contribute to the country's development, according to state broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.
On his part, the Zambian minister said his ministry has introduced comprehensive education to enable pupils to have information in order to prevent pregnancies among pupils.
The ministry, he added, was also not distributing condoms or family planning to pupils but instead educating them through availing adequate information on sexuality.
Various comprehensive sexual reproductive materials have been distributed to all schools to educate the pupils, he added.
