A South African municipality is being criticized for offering scholarships to young girls who can prove they are virgins. The organization which had set up a a programme called Maiden’s Bursary Awards in early 2015 announced that 113 virgin students would receive scholarships to pursue higher education in the country because or their virginity.

 

Jabulani Mkhonza, a spokesperson for the municipality, indicated that the virgin scholarships was a way to encourage “girls to keep themselves pure and inactive from sexual activity and focus on their studies”. Further telling the  AFP news agency that  “Those children who have been awarded bursaries will be checked whenever they come back for holidays. The bursary will be taken away if they lose their virginity,”

Why should a child’s education be tied to their sexual activity? We would like to hear your thoughts?