Parents outraged over birth control injections at school
Parents of learners at a school in the North West have expressed their anger after the provincial health department provided contraception to their daughters without their consent.
The North West Department of Health administered contraceptive injections to 23 learners at the Pitso Letlhogile Middle Secondary School.
According to the department, the learners are at least 16-years-old.
The provincial campaign to educate learners about prevention of teenage pregnancies was slammed by parents who claimed they had a right to be informed about the procedure.
However, the relevant Act makes it clear the learners have the right to make their own decisions regarding this matter.
Section 134 of the Child Act 2005 provides that contraceptives may be provided to a child without the consent of their parents if the child is at least 12 years of age.
Even though the department acted in terms of the law, it had to apologise after it was found that the children did not properly sign the necessary consent forms and that there were only verbal agreements.
Spokesperson Tebogo Lekgethwane says the twenty-three learners voluntarily agreed to receive the injection.
"After that, one of the parents came back to the school complaining that she wouldn't have preferred her daughter to receive that kind of injection. She would have preferred another method of prevention of teenage pregnancies. This issue made other parents uncomfortable."
The department has vowed that the campaign will continue.
"This is a seasonable program. We normally engage it when the learners are not that busy at school. We have not had problems in other areas, it was just this area."