The organizations argue that this limit violates women’s constitutional rights to education and equality. The controversial draft directive, which is part of a new set of guidelines the Ministry is planning to introduce, states that a female student can only be absent for 15 consecutive school days in reference to maternity. The coalition argues that this clause severely violates women’s constitutional right to equality in the social, economic, and political spheres, including the realm of education. To address the issue, they have called on the Ministry of Education to engage in consultation with civil society and reconsider the contentious aspects of the draft directive. Recently, Amelework Hezekiel, director of communication at the Ministry of Education, clarified that the directive is still in its preliminary draft stage and has not yet been implemented.

Source: Ethiopian News December 05, 2023 09:21 UTC