KAYANZA January 22nd (ABP) – 4,205 school dropouts have been reported in the Kayanza province (northern Burundi) since the first term of the current school year. Among the major causes of school drop-out are cases of unwanted pregnancies, the majority of perpetrators are classmates. To significantly reduce the drop-out rate, the Provincial Directorate of Education (DPE) in Kayanza (north) plans to work with all stakeholders in this sector.
Sources that the check by ABP contacted indicate that Matongo and Kayanza communes come in first positions with respectively 625 and 596 cases of dropouts. Although he does not specify the exact number of girls who dropped out as a result of early school pregnancy, Désiré Hatungimana, Provincial Director of Education in Kayanza, reports that unwanted pregnancies are one of the biggest causes of high drop-out rates. By way of illustration, 17 cases of drop-out related to unwanted pregnancies have been reported since the first term in Kayanza school commune, other six cases in Butaganzwa commune and five cases of post-basic school girls have been reported in Gahombo school commune.
For the same provincial dignitary, as the main perpetrators of those early school-age pregnancies are classmates, he promised to work in synergy with all those working in the education sector, to see together what they have to do to reduce dropout rates in that northern province.
The same goes for the governor of Kayanza province, who calls on the heads of non-profit associations working in that province to draw on all the strategies that could lead to a significant drop in the school drop-out rate. To that end, he said he does not understand how associations working in that sector do not intervene, while the number of students leaving school is increasing.
Despite this state of affairs, the provincial director of education in Kayanza calls on students to cut short with idleness, but rather to continue their studies to prepare for a better future.
It is worth noting that during the past school year, more than 19,000 cases of school drop-outs were counted in that province, including 135 cases of unwanted pregnancies.