Law on dropouts return to school in pipeline
DODOMA: PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa yesterday told Members of Parliament that President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan’s directive of sending dropout girls back to school will be legally bound.
He said the Head of State’s decision aims at ensuring right to education to every child in the country and that being given second chance should not be taken for granted.
The Premier also urged parents to closely monitor movements of their children when they are going to school and make a follow up on their academic performance.
Mr Majaliwa was responding to a question posed by Special Seats MP, Ms Asia Halamga (CCM) who wanted to know the measures that are taken by the government to ensure all students who had dropped from school resume classes.
He revealed this when responding to the question from Ms Asia Halamga (Special Seats-CCM) who argued that despite good intent of the President’s directive the implementation has been poor.
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Ms Halamga wanted to know when the government would table the Bill in the House to form a law that will ensure no student fails to complete studies because of pregnancy.
In response, Prime Minister Majaliwa hailed President Dr Samia for her bold decision to allow all girls who dropped out of school because of pregnancy to resume studies to pursue their dreams.
“We understand that Regional and District Commissioners make close follow up on these girls to ensure they get back to school, it is important to have a law in place to oversee this matter, it should not be a willing of an individual” he noted.
He elaborated that the envisaged law is expected to be in place following the ongoing review of the education policy.
“Currently the education Ministry is reviewing its education policy, one of areas we are working on is to strengthen the implementation of the ‘back to school’ directives, including forming the law and its regulations.” he stressed.
Moreover, Mr Majaliwa asked parents to make sure their children are going to school as required.
He made the call after Sikonge MP Joseph Kakunda wanted to know about the government’s strategy to ensure that all enrolled students complete their studies.
He said: “We have also strengthened our institution in charge of quality control, which also makes follow up on the number of registered students, those in class and absentees,” he elaborated, adding: “We believe that through these measures, absenteeism will decrease and we will see that 95 to 98 per cent of registered students complete their studies,” he expressed optimism.
