Over 9,000 Tanzanian school girls impregnated in one year: official

At least 9,011 Tanzanian school girls were impregnated between January 2021 and January 2022.[iStockphoto]

At least 9,011 Tanzanian school girls were impregnated between January 2021 and January 2022, an official told parliament in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, Tuesday.

The Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Technology Omary Kipanga said out of the 9,011 impregnated school girls, 1,554 were in primary schools and 7,457 were in secondary schools.

Kipanga also said 1,692 secondary school girls were reinstated after giving birth.

"The government is still assessing to establish the number of primary school girls that has been reinstated after they had given birth," he told the House.

Kipanga was responding to Hawa Mchata, a member of Parliament on women's special seats, who had pressed the government to reveal the number of impregnated school girls that have been reinstated.

Mchata said she asked the question after President Samia Suluhu Hassan had lifted a ban in 2021 on school girls that were discontinued from pursuing their education dreams after getting pregnant.