Kilimanjaro RC acts tough on teachers stigmatizing students with disabilities    

KILIMANJARO: THE Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Nurdin Babu, has issued a strong warning to teachers and school heads who are found to be stigmatizing or discriminating against students with disabilities, stressing that all children must be admitted to school without any conditions, including the lack of school supplies or failure to pay various contributions.

Babu made the remarks today, January 21, 2025, while speaking to journalists at his office, seven days after the start of the student enrollment exercise for the 2026/2027 academic year in Kilimanjaro Region.

According to statistics from the Regional Commissioner’s Office, Kilimanjaro Region has a total of 1,045 primary schools, comprising 881 government schools and 164 private schools, serving more than 300,000 students.

He said the government has been receiving complaints from parents and guardians that some school heads and teachers have been sending students back home on various grounds, including minor shortfalls in school contributions agreed upon by school committees.

“We are receiving complaints where a parent is short of as little as TSh 10,000 in contributions agreed by the school committee, yet the student is sent back. This is completely unacceptable,” Babu said.

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Commenting on the enrollment status, he said projections for pre-primary enrollment were 29,522 children, but only 24,127 have been enrolled so far.

For Form One, he said the target was to enroll 29,858 students, but as of January 20, 2025, only 65 percent had reported to their schools.

Babu emphasized that the directives are in line with the Education Act No. 25 of 1978, as amended in 1995, particularly Section 35, which guarantees every child’s right to education without discrimination.

He added that the Persons with Disabilities Act No. 9 of 2010 also prohibits stigma and discrimination against persons with disabilities in the provision of social services, including education, and urged all education stakeholders to strictly adhere to the law.