Tanzania to Allow Young Mothers Enrol Back Into Education
Tanzania has announced that school-age mothers can be enrolled back into education from next year.
In 2017, Tanzania’s former President John Magufuli was condemned for comments that girls who give birth should not be able to return to school.
He was highlighting a measure that was in fact introduced in 2002.
In 2018, the World Bank withdrew a $500m (£359m) loan to Tanzania meant for education because of the policy, which women’s groups and educationalists said breaks international human rights conventions.
Tanzania’s education ministry has now agreed, after consultations with the World Bank, to allow teenage mothers to attend classes at what are called Folk Development Colleges, which teach basic numeracy and literacy, across the country.
But the ban from school has not been reversed.