Let’s give our daughters pens, not babies

TANZANIA: POLITICS put aside, in a move that deserves not only praise but also an enthusiastic standing ovation, the government has boldly reinstated the right of teenage pregnant girls to return to school. It is a policy that is equal parts progressive, practical and packed with compassion and quite frankly, it is about time.

For too long, society has treated pregnant schoolgirls like walking scandals. Kicked out of families, classrooms, shut out of opportunity and condemned to a life of whispers, shame and limited prospects. But let us be real: a baby bump is not a moral failing and education is not a privilege reserved for those who manage to dodge misfortune. These girls deserve their books back. They deserve their uniforms, their lessons, their dreams, because education is not a prize for perfection. It is a basic right.

Let us flip the narrative. Who impregnated these girls? Who are the real culprits? These girls didn’t wake up one morning and find themselves expecting by accident of weather. Most often, they were exploited, preyed upon, or simply groomed, coerced, lured, and exploited by older predators with wallets fatter than their consciences. In a nutshell, they exploited their tender ages, knowing very well that they can’t make rational decision like an adult. And in too many cases, those predators walk free, smug and untouchable, while the girls are left to carry the shame and the child.

Even worse are those who marry off these girls before their bodies, let alone their minds, are ready for adulthood. And for what? A few cows? A cash handshake? Some dubious “honour”? It is a disgrace. A girl-child is not a business deal, not a dowry package, not a fertility experiment. She is a person, with potential bursting at the seams, and treating her like a commodity is the height of cultural betrayal.

We cannot claim to care about development while auctioning off our daughters for quick profit. If we truly want to uplift our communities, then let us start by safeguarding our girls’ right to education. Reinstating pregnant girls to school is not promoting immorality, it is refusing to punish the innocent. It is reminding them that their lives are not over. In fact, they have only just begun.

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To those who clutch their pearls and moan about “sending the wrong message”- here is a better one: the real message is that resilience is not shameful. That recovery is not criminal. That the classroom is a place of second chances, not final judgments.

But this shouldn’t fall on government shoulders alone. Faith leaders, parents, teachers, community elders, it is your move too. Preach from the pulpits, teach from the blackboards, speak from the dinner tables: tell our girls that they matter. That they are smart, capable, worthy. Motivate them to study, not settle. Support them to dream, not drop out.

Because when we empower our girls to succeed, we are not just rewriting their stories, we are rewriting our nation’s. In the end, what counts is not whether a girl gave birth at 15. What counts is what she does with the rest of her life. And with the right support, she can do anything.