Thailand’s Education Ministry has implemented a new regulation that will allow pregnant students to continue their schooling. The Ministry also wants to reform sex education with the aim of reducing Thailand’s teenage pregnancy rate.
At a press conference on 5 August 2016, Kamchorn Tatiyakawi, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, told the media that the Ministry is training and updating its staff on reforms brought in by the Teenage Pregnancy Act, which was enacted on 31 March this year. The law allows pregnant teenagers to enrol in Thai public schools, reported BBC Thai.
Kamchorn said that public school teachers have to understand that pregnancy is a student’s choice, so the continuation of their education cannot be denied. He added that the Ministry also wants to reform sex education in order to effectively resolve Thailand’s high teenage pregnancy rate.
“From now on, executives and teachers have to understand that pregnancy during schooling age is the right of students. The students’ right to education cannot be denied,” said Kamchorn.
In 2013, Thailand's teenage pregnancy rate was the second highest in Southeast Asia, after only neighbouring Laos, according to the Bureau of Reproductive Health at the Thai Public Health Ministry.
The graph shows the increasing trend of Thailand’s pregnancy rate at ages below 20. The data was collected between 2008 to 2012 (source: ICT Media)
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