Envoy explains push on primary schooling

Tanzania is determined to see to it that no child is denied the right to education just because parents cannot afford to pay, and the government has committed itself since July to providing basic primary education free of charge to all, Tanzanian envoy Christine Kapalata told a UN General Assembly debate on child rights on 26 October.

Child development had to go in tandem with child education, and Tanzania had decided to make access to basic primary education universal "in recognition of the fact that ignorance is more expensive than education", Kapalata told a meeting of the Assembly's Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).

The Tanzanian government was committed to ensuring that the number of dropouts was as low as possible, and was taking measures to encourage children who started school to complete their primary education, she said.

Special dispensations had been created in a second-chance programme for girls who dropped out of school for various reasons, including pregnancy, Kapalata added.

The Tanzanian authorities had allocated considerable domestic resources to support primary education, but the "enrolment surge" following the abolition of school fees would put extra strain on it, rendering external funding critical to tackle issues in the primary school sector, the World Bank stated on 10 October.

It announced that day its approval of a US $150 million interest-free credit for the primary education development programme in Tanzania, to support the government's efforts to improve education quality, expand school access and increase the retention of children in school.

The Bank said it intended to support capital and development grants for primary schools, further development of educational materials, and improvement of central, district and school-level administrations for efficient operation of the primary school system.

In backing Tanzania's primary school programme, the World Bank identified poor quality, inefficiency and inadequate access as major issues to be addressed, along with underlying "equity issues relating to disparities across regions, economic groups and gender".

A number of health and nutrition problems were also constraining the learning and educational achievement of school-age children, "with the HIV/AIDS epidemic posing a particularly important and growing threat", it added. For details, go to http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/afr/afr.nsf

On the issue of children's rights, Tanzania had ratified the international Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been translated into the national language, Kiswahili, in order to allow its implementation at all levels of society, Kapalata said at the Third Committee debate on 26 October.

Furthermore, she said, a National Programme of Action concerning child survival, protection and development had been formulated with the assistance of the United Nations Children's Fund and bilateral donors.

Tanzania also hoped that the UN Special Session on Children - postponed in the aftermath of the 11 September terrorist attacks on the United States - would eventually convene and provide the international community with yet another opportunity to renew commitments to children in combating HIV/AIDS, Kapalata added.