THE Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children jointly with Rukwa regional authority have established 24 Gender Desks in public schools to fight violence against children, including teenage marriage and pregnancies in the region.
The school desks have been established in public Primary and Secondary Schools in Nkasi, Kalambo and Sumbwanga District Councils as well as Sumbawanga Municipality, during a campaign launched recently by the author ties.
Making the revelation recently, the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and, Children, Assistant Director for Children Rights and Development, Mr Sebastian Kitiku told the ‘africa-press’ here that after the launch, cases of teenage pregnancies in Schools have reduced in Rukwa region.
“We (the ministry) have launched strategies to reduce child violence by creating Gender Desks in Schools in all four councils of Nkasi, Kalambo and Sumbawanga as well as Sumbawanga Municipality. “This will help students and pupils to know their rights and as well enable them to defend their rights …. The docket believes that education is a key in creating public awareness and would see a lot of success and reported cases addressed,” said Mr Kitiku.
Commenting, Rukwa Regional Commissioner (RC) Mr Joachim Wangabo said it is unfortunate that some male teachers have turned wild to impregnate their own students and shutter their dreams.
“It is very demoralizing; several teachers including school heads have been arrested and dragged to courts for allegedly raping and impregnating 20 school teenage students …, to make the record clear, the high rate of school teenage pregnancies in Rukwa region is worrisome to the extent of 722 students terminating their studies for being pregnant during 2017 to August 2019,” added the RC.
He further said that to address the situation, Rukwa Regional Consultative Committee, endorsed a 2020-25 Strategic Plan draft, adding: “I also extol the commendable efforts of Plan International Tanzania in Rukwa region to protect children’s rights, especially girls from early pregnancies and marriages.”
Plan International is working jointly together with Jhpiego and Africare with fund from the Canadian government. Reached for a comment, across section of religious leaders including Roman Catholic Church, Sumbawanga Diocese Rev.
Bishop Beatus Urassa and Rukwa Regional Chief Sheikh, Alhaj Rashid Akilimali committed to ensure that such practices are eliminated in the area.
Bishop Urassa expressed his shock and sadness over the alarming rate of such social evils in Rukwa, saying that such desks and campaign would inform students to report cases against them.
On his part Alhaj Akilimali noted that such platform would effectively spread information in the public that child violence is not allowed and hence a crime.
