President sparks school pregnancy outcry
Publish date: 26 June 2017
Issue Number: 731
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Tanzania
There has been an outcry over Tanzanian President John Magufuli's comments that schoolgirls who give birth should not be allowed to return to school. Magufuli last week warned schoolgirls at a rally that ‘after getting pregnant, you are done’. BBC News reports that a law passed in 2002 allows for expulsion of pregnant schoolgirls. It states that pupils can be expelled and excluded from school for ‘offences against morality’. Two weeks ago, Vice-President Samia Suluhu called for young mothers to be readmitted to school, saying they should not be denied a right to education.
