There are things you do not expect to hear from an educated person and especially if that educated person is also a president. Dr. John Magufuli, recently, shocked the world with what could be termed as one of the most retrogressive and reckless statements to have ever come from a president in this century.
While addressing the public he said that as long as he is the president, girls would not be allowed back to school if they became pregnant and gave birth.
The reason given for the ban was as ridiculous as the ban itself. He argued that teen moms would influence other girls to get pregnant. How did he arrive at the conclusion that girls influenced each other into pregnancy?
However you look at it, this president has no respect for girl-child and children's rights in general. He has no regard for education which is a basic right for every human being whether a parent or not.
What Magufuli forgets is that it is his government that should be punished for early pregnancies and not the girls whose lives should be protected by parents and the government.
If an underage girl was raped and impregnated or coerced into sex by a man and became pregnant, why would you punish the little girl for the social evil that you as the government have failed to deal with?
Instead of punishing the already troubled girl, Dr. Magufuli should provide support to the teen moms as they need more help at that time than any other time so as to be able to give quality care to their babies. By denying education to a mother you also deny her child quality life.
President Magufuli should think about the likely consequences of his ban. Expectant teenagers may opt for crude abortion methods if only to remain in school. Teen moms may also be subjected to stigma which could damage their self-esteem and potential.
What of those who will prefer to just get pregnant so as not to go to school because they probably fear chemistry or their mathematics teacher?
Ultimately, Magufuli’s stand is not only injurious to the lives of women but also to the country's economy to which women substantially contribute.
Parents might not even entertain their child being pregnant given they will not have them back in school!
The world is struggling to empower the girl child and the announcement by Magufuli only serves to provide a fertile ground for breeding of all sorts of retrogressive practices.
Just how criminal can being pregnant be to warrant one being denied her right to education?
Dr. Magufuli's uneducated statement about girl education need to be condemned by the whole world. He even talked ill of NGOs saying they should not dictate to his country about girl-child rights
The president of Tanzania should apologize to all women for indecorously speaking about giving birth as if to intentionally express his disrespect for women.
No comments:
Post a Comment