Source: Daily News
PRIMARY school pupils in Rukwa Region have complained that some parents in the region force their daughters to drop out of school so as to get married. The parents benefit from this under-age married because suitors pay a dowry.

In their message to the acting Regional Commissioner (RC) for Rukwa, Mr Iddy Kimanta, the school pupils also expressed their displeasure in connection with the conduct of some parents who force their daughters to drop out of school so they do household chores.

The children pointed out further that some parents forced their daughters to perform poorly in Standard Seven final examinations so they return to the family to do household chores or work as casual labourers or even get married off - for a dowry.

The pupils were bitter that dropping out of school denied them education and that getting married at a tender age amounted to illegal child marriage.

According to the pupils, between 2006 and 2012 a total of 24,300 pupils dropped out of school in the region due to various reasons, including premature marriages. Some of them opted for the casual labour market. Others fell prey to human traffickers.

The pupils were expressing their views during a public event in Kanondo urban village in the municipality of Sumbawanga which had been lined up at regional level to commemorate the International Day of the African Child.

Meanwhile, Rukwa Region has drawn an elaborate plan that will see the region end the current dire shortages of school desks especially in primary schools. The initiative is expected to have succeeded by next year.

The upshot is to have all pupils seated comfortably when following their lessons in classrooms. At the moment the situation is bleak. According to the latest statistics, Rukwa has 357 primary schools, 353 of which are run by the government.

The government schools have a combined pupil population of 200,918 who face a critical shortage of 33,638 school desks. Currently the schools have only 33,335 desks, a situation that forces three pupils to share each desk.

This was said by Mr Kimanta, who is also the Nkasi District Commissioner, at the weekend when addressing a public rally to mark the International Day of the African Child in Kanondo Village.

The day was marked at regional level in the village which is located in the municipality of Sumbawanga.

According to the acting RC, the region, through its recent ambitious campaign (Kampeni Dawati Rukwa) on this nettling matter, would ensure that no pupils would sit on the floor in classroom in any school due to shortages of desks.

The Hassan Majaar Trust donated 321 school desks worth more than 22m/- recently to eight primary schools in the region. The donation helped reduce the severity of the problem from 50.2 per cent to 49.8 per cent.

In a quest to eliminate the shortage of school desks, Mr Kimanta has cautioned parents and guardians against refusal to contribute money towards purchases of desks. He said the stern measures, including legal action, would be taken against such people.

"You have already harvested your crops. This means you do not have any logical reason for refusing to contribute to the purchases of school desks for the benefit of your schooling children," Mr Kimanta said.

• Tanzania