Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online Academic Issues

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Tanzania has announced this week that it has lifted a ban on school-going girls, a move that came after years of pressure from civil rights activists to end their so-called apartheid policies.

On Wednesday, Education Minister Joyce Ndalichako he said government removes barriers to re-entry of students who want to return to school after dropping out of compulsory pregnancy.

“It’s time,” Leonard Akwilapo, secretary general of the ministry, told Al Jazeera. “There has been a lot of discussion on this issue and people seem to be ready to lift the ban. The social network is full of discussions on this issue and many people want to change.

Teachers say the 1960s policy was heavily used during the previous administration of President John Magufuli who died in March this year and replaced Samia Suluhu Hassan, Tanzania’s first female president.

Magufuli has previously stated that his government does not train women.

“I offer to pay for my tuition. Then, she gets pregnant, gives birth, and later, she goes back to school. No, not under my responsibility, “he said in 2017.

While her claims often became legal, this led to her attempting to get pregnant and the expulsion of girls who became pregnant. Investigators and campaigners also faced hostilities with government officials and allies.

“The protesters paid a high price for the change,” said Mshabaha Mshabaha, a change activist for Change Tanzania, who campaigned against the idea.

“Those of us who were in the forefront seemed to have a political agenda against President John Magufuli. That we were spreading propaganda, and promoting child prostitution in schools. It seems that the authorities realize that we are only fighting for girls’ right to education.”

In February 2020, Zitto Kabwe, leader of the opposition ACT Nationalist party, received threats of assassination by members of Parliament after he led a group of human rights activists registered with the World Bank to refrain from borrowing from the government on a “apartheid policy” to protect girls. school expectants.

‘Keep busy in sexual studies’

The next most important part is now focusing on security, said Neema Mgendi, founder and executive director of Okoa New Generation, an organization to develop the skills of girls who dropped out of school due to pregnancy.

“Most girls who get pregnant at school do not have basic sex education,” said Mgendi. “While appreciating this development, the most important thing right now is to invest more in sex education and to inform students about the consequences of teenage pregnancy and child marriage and to encourage them to continue their education.”

According to the World Bank, last year more than 5,000 pregnant girls in Tanzania were banned each year from continuing their education, and returning to school after giving birth.

Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online. Although there is no evidence to support this, research has shown that the lack of sex education and poverty can significantly affect girls’ chances of getting pregnant while they are still young in Tanzania.

‘The right to education’

Earlier this year, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report identified girls who became pregnant while in school as men who exploited them. They said the men, who often drive motorcycle taxis, volunteered to buy the essentials or ride them to school to have sex with them.

School principals and teachers often use the Education Act and its exclusion policy of 2002 to expel girls. These rules allow for expulsion from school if a student commits a “serious misconduct” or if a student gets married.

In its July and August surveys, HRW found that some girls were expelled from school just before they sat for their national Form 4 examinations, the last year of elementary school, after a formal mid-term examinations were about to take place. inside.

Tanzania has now become one of the last two countries in Africa to lift the ban on pregnant schoolgirls. Equatorial Guinea is the only country that has maintained its monopoly on the policy since Sierra Leone’s reforms last year.

Elin Martinez, a senior researcher in the field of HRW children’s rights, said years of research in many African countries had shown that simply removing the policy that denied girls the right to education was not enough.

“A policy or legal framework should be enacted to ensure that girls who have been severely denied are told they cannot return to school because of pregnancy or mothers in order to take up their right to education,” Martinez said.

“Having a system that defines their right to education and a clear understanding of what school authorities and education ministry officials must do to ensure that this is paramount.”