High birth rates no longer excuse for not taking children to school

Arumeru. Following government’s decision to provide free education for both primary and secondary schooling, the Maasai community has been tasked to educate their children or face legal measures.
Some Ilkurot villagers in Olkolola ward, Arumeru District, have been taken to task for failure to take their  children to school and instead making them cattle herders.
This is after the fifth phase government on November 27, 2015 issued Circular number 5 which directs public bodies to ensure that secondary education is free for all children.

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Following the government’s decision to make both primary and secondary education free for all, 150 a ten cell leader in Sarunga village, Olkokola ward Mr Gidion William said that all parents have been directed to ensure their children go to school instead of making them cattle herders.
“Some of the parents have been locked up in police custody after they came up with flimsy excuses that they have more than 10 children and therefore could not afford to pay school fees for all of them,” he said.
Mr William said that in the past boys were made to either take care of family cattle or get employment employed as labourers in potatoes farms.
However, since the village leaders started taking stern measures including arresting parents whose children to not attend school, a majority of children are now taken to school.
In another development, Ilkurot Primary School headmaster, Mr Hoki Mbulu said that this year’s attendance has increased by 50 per cent compared to last year thanks to the governments free education policy.
According to him, following high birth rates in the district, majority of parents were using their children as cattle headers or do manual work to help in family upkeep while claiming they could not afford to pay for their education.
According to Tanzania Demographic Profile of 2016, Tanzania ranked sixth in the African population data with a fertility rate of 5.2, while the current population stands at 45million it is expected to grow to 134.8million by 2050 while its modern contraceptive methods
stand at 32percent.
Meanwhile, Arusha District Council, Reproductive and Child Health Care Coordinator, Ms Butolwa Bujiku, said while on one hand families enjoy free but health of the mothers was in jeopardy due to high birth rates and therefore they have come up with settings in the Reproductive and Child Care Services where they educate women on the importance of
family planning service.