The National Democratic Congress has as the rest of the country learnt of a vexing problem which has arisen at the Anglican High School, Tanteen, St. Georges.

The problem involves as we understand it the compulsory decision of the Ministry of Education supported by the Minister of Education that a pregnant student seven (7) months or thereabout be returned compulsorily to the school.

The National Democratic Congress is of the view that this decision by the Minister and the Ministry of Education is misguided, and is potentially harmful to the school environment. The Education Act makes absolutely no demand on schools to maintain the status of a student who may become pregnant at any of our primary or secondary school institutions. It however guarantees the right of every child to an education and this the National Democratic Congress firmly upholds.

Further it is our view that special arrangements for the continued educational instruction of a pregnant school girl is a responsibility which Government and the community at large cannot escape from.
A student who finds herself in such a situation should be allowed to access academic instructions outside of the school institution and not within the normal institutional course of the school.

In this regard the Programme for Adolescent Mothers (PAM) must be developed and expanded and where what currently exist is not adequate for meeting the specific needs of the particular case in question then private instructions should be arranged for the youngster.

We call on the church community and all others charged with the guardianship of our morality to speak out on this issue. Here again the New National Party has run counter to the moral normative of our community.

We empathise with the youngster and her family and we empathise with the school, its principal and staff.  Had this matter been handled differently there would have been no need for the subject to be in the public domain.

The adverse publicity and open discussion must affect the child negatively and this is unfortunate. As we understand it the student population at the Anglican High school is by and large upset over the decision by the Ministry of Education.  It is clear that the New National Party has no coherent policy underpinned by strong moral values.

The National Democratic Congress is of the view that discipline and policies concerning discipline ought to be determined in an environment of consultation and cooperation rather that the high handed manner in which the decisions in this case were taken.

The school administrators, parent teacher associations, the churches and the ministry must all be involved in the decision making process so as to avoid the problems caused by the way this matter was handled.

(The above statement was issued by the National Democratic Congress on the issue of the pregnant student at the Anglican High School)