Human Rights Watch stated on Friday that the Tanzanian government has failed to implement adequate legal and policy measures to protect the educational rights of pregnant girls and adolescent mothers, or to address years of systemic exclusion from schools. As a result, HRW found that these girls continue to face significant risks of stigma and discrimination in schools.
Human Rights Watch emphasized that the government’s recent guidelines for supporting students who have dropped out of school create administrative barriers for girls attempting to re-enroll after pregnancy, including a provision allowing up to two years for young mothers to return to school. The group also criticized the Tanzanian government for failing to implement crucial legal and policy reforms to clearly outline the obligations of schools, education officials, and teachers in protecting and promoting the educational rights of pregnant students and adolescent mothers.
According to human rights organizations, more than 55,000 adolescent girls in Tanzania were expelled from school or compelled to drop out due to pregnancy between 2003 and 2011, with an estimated 5,500 pregnant students leaving school each year. In 2019, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) filed a lawsuit against Tanzania with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), challenging policies that expelled pregnant girls from school, including practices such as mandatory pregnancy testing, the expulsion of pregnant and married girls, denial of education after childbirth, and inadequate access to reproductive and sexual health information and services in schools. In 2022, the ACERWC ruled that Tanzania’s policy of expelling pregnant and married girls without offering them an opportunity to return to school, along with the practice of mandatory pregnancy testing in schools, breached multiple provisions of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
On November 24, 2021, Tanzania’s Ministry of Education declared that students who had dropped out of secondary education, including adolescent mothers, are entitled to resume their studies within the formal education system. The announcement also provided guidelines for stakeholders, including education leaders and teachers, to support and accommodate these students. In February 2022, the Ministry of Education published the “Guidelines for Re-entry of Students Who Dropped Out of Primary and Secondary Education for Various Reasons.”
The ACERWC recommended that the Tanzanian government take measures such as expanding essential support services, explicitly and unequivocally prohibiting mandatory pregnancy testing in schools and health facilities with enforceable penalties for noncompliance, and ensuring that pregnant and married girls have the right to re-enroll without restrictions or delays. The committee also urged the removal of the two-year re-entry limit and the elimination of expulsion policies linked to marital status.
