EDITORIAL: Do more for girl child's sake

As Tanzania joins the rest of the world today in marking International Day of the Girl Child, questions still abound insofar as the welfare of the girl child in the country is concerned.

We may be well into the 21st century, but girls are still routinely denied an education and married off while still very young.

In many communities, girls rarely go beyond primary school. It is not uncommon for girls not to proceed with secondary education even if they pass the Primary School Leaving Examination, with some parents maintaining that there is no point in educating them because they will eventually get married and be under the control of somebody else.

While tangible progress has been made in the last few decades, we still have a long way to go to ensure that each and every girl has unfettered access to quality education, irrespective of her background.

The aim here is to brighten up their future prospects and enable them to become productive members of society when they reach adulthood.

There is no way we can build a just and equal society if the girl child continues to be denied the basic rights she is entitled to.