FIRST Lady Esther Lungu has urged girls who drop out of school due to pregnancy to return and continue with their education after they give birth.
Ms Lungu said this at Kasamanda Primary and Day Secondary School when she met 23 girls who have returned to school after giving birth.
Ms Lungu, who ended the Esther Lungu Foundation Trust (ELFT) outreach programme tour of Mambwe on Friday, was elated that the girls have decided to go back to school.
She told the 23 girls that the step they had taken was a clear indication that the re-entry policy was effectively being implemented for the benefit of girls.
She urged the girls to focus on their education as school knows no age, adding that whatever challenges the girls may have encountered in life and at whatever age, they should be determined to get educated.
“The world is evolving and we all have to move with it at the same pace and the only way that can be achieved is by acquiring an education. When you are educated and independent, you will be able to find solutions to whatever problem you face because no problem lasts forever,” Ms Lungu said. She noted that going back to school, as the 23 had done, was the first step in the right direction.
The first lady stated that the bold decision the girls made serves as an example to other girls in their situation who feel shy to go back to school.
“By deciding to go back to school, you girls have shown that you are heroines. I pray that your friends who feel shy to go back to school can emulate your courage and determination and go back to school,” she said.
Ms Lungu presented food hampers of peanut butter, cooking oil, sugar, baked beans among others to the 23 girls as a way of motivating them.
– ZANIS.
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