Assembly Aims To Ease Thai Students Ordeal

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JUNO BILL

Assembly aims to ease students' ordeal

By Wannapa Khaopa

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Pregnant students should be allowed to continue their studies or take temporary maternal leave to deliver their babies before returning to school, an educational assembly agreed yesterday.

The proposal aims at providing an educational opportunity for student mothers who currently are restricted in their access to education.

A majority of 20 groups - around 200 representatives from government agencies, academics and civil society - also proposed pregnant students be allowed to choose for themselves whether to go back to the same institutions, try new ones, or go to non-formal and informal education centres instead.

This is part of Article 12, designed so young mothers can get a good job after graduation and reduce the impact on society.

All the proposals for a draft bill on reproductive health protection will be sent to a sub-committee responsible for drafting the bill for consideration next week.

Then the adjusted draft bill will be proposed to a committee on national reproductive health development chaired by Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanawisit before being sent on to Cabinet for approval, said Dr Somyot Deerasmi, director-general of the Health Department.

Assembly delegates wanted students' mental health to be less affected by premature pregnancy, urging they not be punished or condemned.

However, participants expressed concern that should young expectant mothers remain in classrooms during their pregnancy other students would be encouraged to copy them and have babies. Delegates however, said from their experience this was not likely to happen.

To deal with unwanted pregnancy problems systematically, educational institutions were urged to report real figures about their pregnant students and how they were being assisted.

Some participants said they wanted male students to take responsibility in this problem also as they were husbands and fathers of the babies.

Other significant proposals involved promoting good care among mothers in private and government agencies, having local administrative organisations take part in sex education along with teachers, allowing those organisations and people from civil society to be members of a national reproductive health protection committee - the committee that would have authority on reproductive protection.

Article 9 orders employers of pregnant employees and heads of pregnant officers in government agencies to allow them to take maternal leave. The assembly participants also proposed the article allow husbands to take leave to help look after their newborns for at least two weeks.

To accelerate the committee's working, they urged the chairperson of the committee be changed from the Public Health Minister to the Prime Minister - because the PM could manage better collaboration among relevant ministries.

Apart from proposals from this assembly, the sub-committee will also gather and consider hundreds of related suggestions from questionnaires before adjusting the draft bill.

The assembly was held at the TK Palace Hotel in Bangkok.

-- The Nation 2010-08-17

[chantorn]

Pregnant students should be allowed to continue their studies or take temporary maternal leave to deliver their babies before returning to school, an educational assembly agreed yesterday. Some participants said they wanted male students to take responsibility in this problem also as they were husbands and fathers of the babies.

Please don't just lay blame to the women. It takes two (at least) to make a baby. Why only Some participants said they wanted male students to take responsibility? Shouldn't they ALL need to be responsible?

[moe666]

Pregnant students should be allowed to continue their studies or take temporary maternal leave to deliver their babies before returning to school, an educational assembly agreed yesterday. Some participants said they wanted male students to take responsibility in this problem also as they were husbands and fathers of the babies.

Please don't just lay blame to the women. It takes two (at least) to make a baby. Why only Some participants said they wanted male students to take responsibility? Shouldn't they ALL need to be responsible?

You are absolutely correct, but it doesn't seem like many Thai males take responsibility for much of anything.

[naiharn]

Please don't just lay blame to the women. It takes two (at least) to make a baby.

It takes "at least" two to make a baby? You mean it sometimes takes 3 or 4? How does that work? (Menage-a-trois?)

[dumball]

Surely one must understand that with so little informative sex education , life is not always that simple for the particepants .

You obviously need two to tango to get the deed completed , but to keep things flowing smoothly , a third party is needed to read out the instructions and lend a 'Guiding' hand if and when required .

[hyperdimension]

Please don't just lay blame to the women. It takes two (at least) to make a baby.

It takes "at least" two to make a baby? You mean it sometimes takes 3 or 4? How does that work? (Menage-a-trois?)

chantorn is correct. One or more males consecutively ejaculating into a female can result in a pregnancy.

[naiharn]

Please don't just lay blame to the women. It takes two (at least) to make a baby.

It takes "at least" two to make a baby? You mean it sometimes takes 3 or 4? How does that work? (Menage-a-trois?)

chantorn is correct. One or more males consecutively ejaculating into a female can result in a pregnancy.

I can assure you that even in these unusual cases, well maybe not unusual in your circles, there is only ONE father, and ONE mother. 1+1=2

[naiharn]

Please don't just lay blame to the women. It takes two (at least) to make a baby.

It takes "at least" two to make a baby? You mean it sometimes takes 3 or 4? How does that work? (Menage-a-trois?)

chantorn is correct. One or more males consecutively ejaculating into a female can result in a pregnancy.

I can assure you that even in these unusual cases, well maybe not unusual in your circles, there is only ONE father, and ONE mother. 1+1=2

On further thought, if there is in-vitro fertilisation, and/or a surrogate mother involved, and if we count all the doctors and nurses, yes, there could be more than 2 required to make the baby. Is this common in Thai schools?