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| Magufuli ban on pregnant schoolgirls angers Tanzanians | Magufuli ban on pregnant schoolgirls angers Tanzanians |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Many Tanzanians have condemned President John Magufuli's comments that schoolgirls who give birth should not be allowed to return to school. | Many Tanzanians have condemned President John Magufuli's comments that schoolgirls who give birth should not be allowed to return to school. |
| An online petition has been set up to get the president to reverse his comments. | An online petition has been set up to get the president to reverse his comments. |
| Mr Magufuli warned schoolgirls at a rally on Monday that: "After getting pregnant, you are done." | Mr Magufuli warned schoolgirls at a rally on Monday that: "After getting pregnant, you are done." |
| A law passed in 2002 allows for expulsion of pregnant schoolgirls. | A law passed in 2002 allows for expulsion of pregnant schoolgirls. |
| The law says the girls can be expelled and excluded from school for "offences against morality" and "wedlock". | The law says the girls can be expelled and excluded from school for "offences against morality" and "wedlock". |
| Mr Magufuli, who was speaking at a public rally in Chalinze town, about 100km west of the main city Dar es Salaam, said that young mothers would be distracted if they were allowed back in school: | Mr Magufuli, who was speaking at a public rally in Chalinze town, about 100km west of the main city Dar es Salaam, said that young mothers would be distracted if they were allowed back in school: |
| "After calculating some few mathematics, she'd be asking the teacher in the classroom: 'Let me go out and breastfeed my crying baby.'" | "After calculating some few mathematics, she'd be asking the teacher in the classroom: 'Let me go out and breastfeed my crying baby.'" |
| He said that men who impregnate the schoolgirls should be imprisoned for 30 years and "put the energy they used to impregnate the girl into farming while in jail". | He said that men who impregnate the schoolgirls should be imprisoned for 30 years and "put the energy they used to impregnate the girl into farming while in jail". |
| The president also criticised rights organisations who have been pushing the government to reverse the expulsion law: | The president also criticised rights organisations who have been pushing the government to reverse the expulsion law: |
| "These NGOs should go out and open schools for parents. But they should not force the government [to take back the pupils]. | "These NGOs should go out and open schools for parents. But they should not force the government [to take back the pupils]. |
| "I'm giving out free education for students who have really decided to go and study, and now you want me to educate the parents?" | "I'm giving out free education for students who have really decided to go and study, and now you want me to educate the parents?" |
| The BBC's Sammy Awami in Tanzania reports that the crowd at the rally applauded the president's comments. | The BBC's Sammy Awami in Tanzania reports that the crowd at the rally applauded the president's comments. |
| At least 8,000 Tanzanian girls drop out of school every year due to pregnancy, according to a Human Rights Watch report. | At least 8,000 Tanzanian girls drop out of school every year due to pregnancy, according to a Human Rights Watch report. |
| 'Immoral' | |
| The online petition says that the president's support for the expulsion law would end the education of many girls and "propagate more discrimination". | |
| It instead calls for the girls to be protected from early pregnancies while in school. | |
| Tanzanians are also using the hashtag #ArudiShule (let her return) on Twitter to criticise the president's comments and to highlight the plight of young women who get pregnant while in school. | |
| Two weeks ago, Tanzania's Vice-President Samia Suluhu called for young mothers to be readmitted school, saying they should not be denied a right to education. | |
| Koitamet Olekina, executive director of the Maasai Education Discovery, a non-profit organisation that rescues girls from early marriages in Kenya, condemned Mr Magufuli's comments: | |
| "If Magufuli is standing on the pedestal of morality, then in my opinion, it would be more immoral to deny the Tanzanian girl child an opportunity to rise from a fall and be a better person than to relegate them to almost second-citizenship status for reasons sometimes out of their control." |