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The high-rate of pregnancy among learners reflects moral decay within our society and is a setback for the girl learner as it impacts negatively on the emancipation of women and capacity of the developmental state, North West Premier Thandi Modise said on Thursday.

“While it raises the link of critical social issues-poverty and income, responsible parenting, health issues, education, child welfare and other risky behaviour, It calls to question who is the role model? What is the impact of post 1994 legislation and just what is the role of the family these days?” highlighted Premier Modise.

The Premier said that the issue is a matter of grave concern that calls for united action as part of moral regeneration to address underlying factors as unplanned pregnancies are frequently resolved by abortion.

“The contribution of the social grant system to this phenomenon needs to be investigated. If more children were born to parents who are ready and able to care for them, there would be a significant reduction in a host of social problems afflicting children, from school failure and crime to child abuse and neglect” Modise concluded.

She said that province would in due course announce intervention to curb the phenomenon. The comments were in response to an article by the Sowetan newspaper that reported that Barolong High School in Mahikeng has asked parents of at least 17 pregnant pupils to be on stand-by in case their daughters go into labour.