School pregnancies, hinders education progress for girls in Tanzania

HUMAN right activists have proposed the revival of societal morals as a strategy to curb schoolgirl pregnancies.
According to a press statement issued in Dar es Salaam yesterday by the Tanzania Media Women’s Association (Tamwa), the gender activists said without stern measures to revive national moral values, schoolgirl pregnancies would escalate posing unbearable challenges to national efforts and making the right to education for all children an illusion.
Representing six human rights organisations, a statement insisted that teachers impregnating schoolgirls should be sacked forthwith, forced to pay compensation and then charged in a court of law.
It urged students to name without fear all teachers engaged in love affairs with schoolgirls to facilitate effective action against the culprits.
Of late, the country has witnessed an alarming increase of cases of schoolgirl pregnancies.
According the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training between 2004 and 2008, a total of 28,590 schoolgirls in the country dropped out of school as a result of unwanted pregnancies, 11,599 being secondary and 16,991 primary schoolgirls.
The leaders interviewed by Tamwa on what needs to be done to revive teachers’ morals were executive directors Bubelwa Kaiza (ForDia), Ussu Mallya (Tanzania Gender Networking Programme – TGNP), Ann Marie Mavenjina (Tanzania Women Lawyers Association – Tawla), Scholastica Jullu (Women Legal Aid Centre – Wlac) and Maimuna Kanyamala (Kivulini Women Human Rights Organisation). Another was Harold Sungusia, Director of Advocacy and Reforms, Legal and Human Rights Centre.
A newspaper survey which Tamwa conducted on schoolgirl pregnancies and stories published by local newspapers between December last year and the end of March this year showed there were 11 cases of schoolgirl pregnancies which involved teachers.
The activists noted with concern that schoolgirl pregnancies contributed to illiteracy and poverty among women, maternal mortality and HIV/Aids infection.
The country’s Demographic Health Survey (2010) shows that 454/100,000 equivalent to about 8,000 women and girls die annually due to preventable causes of maternal deaths including controlled schoolgirl pregnancies.
On HIV/Aids infection, a national survey conducted between 2007 and 2008 shows that 5.7 per cent of the country’s population estimated to be about 40 million people has contracted HIV/Aids and the population of women and girls is more affected at a rate of 6.6 per cent compared to 4.6 per cent of the male population.