Thailand passes law that forbids schools from banning pregnant girls

Bangkok: Thailand government has passed a new law that forbids schools, colleges, and universities from transferring or dismissing pregnant students, in an effort to protect the students’ rights.

Anek Laothamatas, minister of higher education, science, research, and innovation, and Treenuch Thienthong, minister of education, jointly signed the document, which was then published in the Royal Gazette on Saturday.

According to the rule, no educational establishment in the kingdom is permitted to expel pregnant students or make them transfer to another school without their will.

Additionally, it states that the action is intended to guarantee the protection of students’ rights to a quality education.

At all levels of schools, colleges, and universities, the rule is in effect.

According to the Education Ministry, the government’s plan to combat teen pregnancies and their effects on young people’s lives includes the regulation. The government reports some progress in lowering the number of teenage pregnancies in the interim.

A ministry source reports that after the 2016 act on adolescent pregnancy prevention and solution was put in place, the drop-out rate among pregnant students has decreased.

Only 13.7% of pregnant students attended class in 2016, compared to up to 53.5% who dropped out, according to the source.

According to the source, in 2021, the proportion of students who continued their studies after becoming pregnant increased to 33.8%, while the proportion of those who dropped out decreased to 36.1%.

The Ministry of Public Health’s campaign to prevent teen pregnancies is believed to have had a considerable impact on the number of adolescent pregnancies over the previous year, according to the source.

Compared to the 31 per 1,000 population recorded in 2019, the source claimed the pregnancy rate for women aged 15 to 19 dropped to 25 per 1,000 last year.

The pregnancy rate among those aged 10 to 14 also decreased last year, from 1.1 per 1,000 people in 2019 to 0.9 per 1,000 people in 2018.

Reports say, the ministry now seeks to further reduce the rates in the 15 to 19 age range to 15 per 1,000 people and in the 10 to 14 age group to 0.5 per 1,000 people.

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