THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK GOVERNING A CHILD’S RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOCUSING ON A PREGNANT GIRL-CHILD STILL IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL IN TANZANIA

Abstract

Tanzania is a young nation which attained her independence 59 years ago from Britain. As a young nation, Tanzania is still evolving in social, political, and economic spheres of development. Development entails a lot. This includes among many things upholding and respect of people’s rights. The right to education has been globally recognized as a human right. However, in Tanzania, this not the case. The right to education does not form part of the bill of rights in Tanzania. Statutory law in Tanzania does however provide that a child has the right to education. However, not every child does enjoy this right. Among those affected are the pregnant girls still in primary and secondary school. This is because, as a matter of practice, pregnant girls are expelled from school with little or no chances of being re-enrolled. This practice has denied such children the right to education. One of the major reasons for this enigma is the lack of a specific provision in the laws stipulating that a pregnant girl-child too has the right to education a problem addressed by this study. This study examines the laws governing the right to education for a child particularly for a pregnant girl-child in Tanzania but also the legality of the practice of expelling pregnant girls from school. Being qualitative research, the study used documentary review and interview methods of data collection. The study found out that the majority of girls that get pregnant while still in primary and secondary school are denied the right to education not only because the laws governing the right to education are silent on the issue of pregnant girls having the right to education but also the fact that expulsion of pregnant girls in Tanzania is a practice which has a legal foundation supporting it.