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<span style="font-weight: bold">Guyana to enforce “no pregnancy” rule
Thursday, 03 December 2009
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<span style="font-size: 11pt">Guyanese authorities have announced that they are adopting a hard line on female scholarship awardees getting pregnant.
They have warned that those who become pregnant can expect to have their scholarships revoked.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The policy is based on one of the stipulations linked to scholarships being made available to Guyana by Cuba.
The Cubans contend that they are spending money to educate people, not for their studies to be disrupted by pregnancy and child rearing.</span>
Guyana's Public Service Minister Dr. Jennifer Westford said at least eight students became pregnant between 2007 and 2008 in violation of a Code of Conduct laid down by the Cuban authorities.
So far this year, no Guyanese student has reported pregnant and the minister sees this as an indication that warnings to parents and students on the matter are being taken seriously.
Dr. Westford said if students with Cuban scholarships do not stick to the "no pregnancy rule", their scholarships will be revoked.
"We cannot (and) we will not tell people you cannot have sex ... what we will tell is that you cannot get pregnant on our scholarships because you're not going to be allowed to continue. We do not send children to study, we send adults and we expect you, as adults, to behave in a certain manner," she said.
However, it has been discovered that Cuba can ask the Guyanese Government to allow students with exceptionally good academic performance to return one year after the pregnancy to continue their studies.
Dr. Westford, a Cuban trained medical doctor, said Guyanese students getting pregnant in Cuba, raises concerns about the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns.
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