Bangkok, February 19 Thai authorities have approved an ordinance prohibiting educational centers, from primary to university, from expelling students who become pregnant, a measure aimed at avoiding discrimination.

The order of the Ministries of Education and Scientific Research and Innovation, published in Thailand’s official gazette on Saturday, stipulates that transfers of pregnant women will only take place with their consent.

The aim is to prevent students who become pregnant from being pressured to leave the centers where they study, which sometimes happens for alleged reasons of reputation and image.

In 2016, only 13.7 percent of pregnant students continued their education, while in 2021 the percentage rose to 33.8 percent, the “Bangkok Post” reported.

Additionally, the pregnancy rate among female students aged 15-19 has increased from 31 per 1,000 in 2019 to 25 per 1,000 in 2022 in Thailand.

Although Thailand pioneered sex education and condom use in the 1990s in the face of the AIDS pandemic, education continues to be dominated by conservative values, especially after the coup. of 2014.

The current government, which emerged from non-transparent elections in 2019, is led by the leader of the 2014 coup, Prayut Chan-ocha.

Amid strong patriotic ideology, children are forced to line up at morning flag raising at schools and must follow strict rules regarding uniforms and haircuts, although these have recently been relaxed.

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