The rate of learner pregnancy in South Africa, highlighted by improved reporting in the Department of Basic Education (DBE), has become a major social, systemic and fiscal challenge not only for the basic education sector, but crucially, for national development in general and for the basic education system in particular. It impacts the lives of thousands of young people, often limiting their personal growth, the pursuit of rewarding careers and their ambitions, with incalculable impact on South Africa's socioeconomic systems. The DBE acknowledges its central role in the social sector's collective response to this challenge and sets out in this Policy its goals, guiding principles and policy themes to stabilize and reduce the incidence of learner pregnancy and its adverse effect on the education system.