Jay456watt
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- Aug 23, 2016
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Human Rights Watch report calls on UK and other aid donors funding ambitious education programme to put pressure on government to halt abuses
Sexual abuse, harassment and corporal punishment are widespread in schools in Tanzania, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) that called on donors funding one of Africa’s most ambitious education programmes to press for government intervention.
The report also found that more than 40% of adolescents in Tanzania were left out of quality lower-secondary education, despite a decision to make this schooling free. The country has one of the world’s largest youth populations, with 43% of people under the age of 15.
The east African state, which has put young people at the heart of its aspiration to become a middle-income country by 2025, has been lauded for its December 2015 move to abolish all fees and charges for secondary schools. Enrolment has significantly increased as a result, according to the government.
But in its report, “I Had a Dream to Finish School”: Barriers to Secondary Education in Tanzania, the human rights group said that the country’s government needed to do more to address crowded classrooms, discrimination and abuse, which undermined many adolescents’ education.
It found that school officials conducted compulsory pregnancy tests and that, in most cases, girls were not allowed to re-enrol after their children were born.
The use of “brutal and humiliating forms” of corporal punishment was also found to be common in schools, affecting attendance. Although still lawful in the country, HRW said this violates Tanzania’s international obligations, and that the frequency with which it happened was “alarmingly high”.
The report said female students were exposed to widespread sexual harassment, and that in some schools male teachers attempted to persuade or coerce them into sexual relationships.
Sexual abuse, harassment and corporal punishment are widespread in schools in Tanzania, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) that called on donors funding one of Africa’s most ambitious education programmes to press for government intervention.
The report also found that more than 40% of adolescents in Tanzania were left out of quality lower-secondary education, despite a decision to make this schooling free. The country has one of the world’s largest youth populations, with 43% of people under the age of 15.
The east African state, which has put young people at the heart of its aspiration to become a middle-income country by 2025, has been lauded for its December 2015 move to abolish all fees and charges for secondary schools. Enrolment has significantly increased as a result, according to the government.
But in its report, “I Had a Dream to Finish School”: Barriers to Secondary Education in Tanzania, the human rights group said that the country’s government needed to do more to address crowded classrooms, discrimination and abuse, which undermined many adolescents’ education.
It found that school officials conducted compulsory pregnancy tests and that, in most cases, girls were not allowed to re-enrol after their children were born.
The use of “brutal and humiliating forms” of corporal punishment was also found to be common in schools, affecting attendance. Although still lawful in the country, HRW said this violates Tanzania’s international obligations, and that the frequency with which it happened was “alarmingly high”.
The report said female students were exposed to widespread sexual harassment, and that in some schools male teachers attempted to persuade or coerce them into sexual relationships.
