The Child Protection Committee in Chadiza district of Eastern Province has intervened in a case of a 14-year-old girl of Chilenga area who was barred from attending school after falling pregnant.

The girl who is currently in grade 8 at Chilenga Primary School was told to stop school by her grandmother after she discovered that she was two months pregnant. 

Upon interrogation, the grandmother explained that she decided to stop the girl from going to school on grounds that she did not want to be disgraced.

Child Protection Committee members led by its Chairperson, Juliete Banda, visited the school and checked the school register only to discover that the girl stopped attending class for a period of weeks.

Ms. Banda said it was unacceptable that the school would allow a child to stop school when government was implementing the re-entry policy for girls and boys.

Meanwhile both the grandmother and the boyfriend to the girl were taken to police for counselling.