Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education has welcomed the declining trend in teenage and learner pregnancies in South Africa.

Committee Chairperson Ms Nomalungelo Gina said: “We are excited that the trends are going down, but even so, we are still worried. One teenage pregnancy is one school pregnancy too many.”

The Committee today received a briefing from the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the Department of Social Development and the Department of Health on prevention and management of learner pregnancy. The Committee heard that a study by the Human Sciences Research Council was release in 2012. This study pointed to a decline in teenage fertility rates over the past five decades. However, despite this decline, the study said unintended teenage pregnancies remain unacceptably high.

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