HARARE, 14 September 2010 (IRIN) - Zimbabwe's education ministry has backtracked on a new policy, introduced in August 2010, to grant pregnant schoolgirls and the prospective fathers maternity and paternity leave from school, and has opted for disciplinary measures instead.

"Learners in all schools may be suspended, excluded or expelled from school for various acts of misconduct of a serious nature," Stephen Mahere, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, said in a circular.

"Pregnancy of a learner, and being responsible for it, are such an example of misdemeanour of a serious nature. The law provides for the exclusion of a learner who falls pregnant, and expulsion of a learner responsible for it," the circular warned.

After consultations between the school and parents or guardians, a girl could be readmitted to school three months after a baby's birth at the grade or form she had been in before she had the baby, Mahere said.

However, the boy responsible for the pregnancy would be considered for admission at another school, and only after a period of 12 months.

"It should be noted that re-admission of the boy learner is not automatic, as approval would have to be sought and granted from the ministry of education before re-admission in any other formal school," the circular said.

"There cannot be maternity or paternity leave for learners in schools. In this regard, it can only be exclusion or expulsion from school."