The World Bank has approved a $500 million education loan to Tanzania after years of delays because of concerns about the country’s policy of banning pregnant students from public schools.<\/p>\n
The World Bank froze $1.7 billion in loans to Tanzania in 2018 following both the pregnant student ban and a law making it illegal to question official statistics. It started releasing funds again to the East African country last September.<\/p>\n
The terms of the loan, which is designed to improve secondary school access, give pregnant students – who were forced to drop out – a chance to complete their schooling through alternative public education programs, the World Bank said late on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
President John Magufuli announced the pregnant student ban in 2017, drawing harsh criticism from activists and donors.<\/p>\n
The World Bank, Tanzania’s biggest external lender, says about 5,500 pregnant girls drop out of school every year.<\/p>\n
Foreign loans and grants are a key source of foreign exchange for East Africa’s third-largest economy.<\/p>\n
Opposition leader Zitto Kabwe, who had previously asked the World Bank to withhold the loan until it was more inclusive, lauded campaigners and the terms of the loan on Twitter.<\/p>\n
Still, some activists emphasized there was a lot more work to be done.<\/p>\n
“I was expecting the World Bank to push for re-entry of banned teenage mothers in public schools, period,” said Carol Ndosi, a womens’ advocate. But, until then, this was a step in the right direction, Ndosi said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The World Bank has approved a $500 million education loan to Tanzania after years of delays because of concerns about the country’s policy of banning pregnant students from public schools. The World Bank froze $1.7 billion in loans to Tanzania in 2018 following both the pregnant student ban and a law making it illegal to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":600,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[23,16],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n