The president of Tanzania, John Magufuli has banned pregnant teenage girls from returning to school, either they eventually become mothers or not.
Magufuli disclosed this while addressing residents of Chalinze, Bagamoyo District in Dar es Salaam during his three-day-tour of Coast Region on Thursday.
According to him, the government funds set aside for education are meant for serious students, and not for pregnant girls.
He noted that the young mothers would be unable to focus while in class, adding that allowing them in class would encourage other girls to engage in sex.
“After calculating some few mathematics she’d be asking the teacher in the classroom ‘let me go out and breastfeed my crying baby”, BBC quoted the president’s statement.
He said only girls at the university level are allowed to get pregnant without any penalties attached.