Education And Sustainable Development Goals: Legal Challenges and Prospects for Tanzanian Teenage Mothers

Abstract

This paper responds to the quest how teenage mothers in Tanzania can use education to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It identifies the legal challenges facing teenage mothers in attaining SDGs and explores the future prospects. It further identifies opportunities to be utilized by teenage mothers in Tanzania to achieve right to education and SDGs. Recognizing the importance of education, Article 11(2) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania provides for the right to education. It stipulates that, every person has the right to self-education, and every citizen shall be free to pursue education in a field of his choice up to the highest level according to his merits and ability.^[1] The Constitution prohibits discrimination on various grounds, including sex.^[2] However, the Article providing for the right to education falls under the Part of the Constitution which is not enforceable. The paper consists of data obtained through desk review of theoretical and empirical literature. The study findings revels that Early motherhood is a result of adolescent pregnancy or child marriage which is a prevalent development issue in Tanzania, creating negative impacts in the lives of girls. Basing on findings, the paper argued that there is a need for responsible authorities to speed up the approval of a new Constitution and implement the provisions of Education and Training Policy on equal access and opportunity to education for girls and boys, amend Education (Expulsion and Exclusion of Pupils from Schools) Regulations to explicitly prohibit the expulsion of pregnant girls from school, install the re-entry programme and procedures on how to enable pregnant schoolgirls to continue with their studies, Speed up amendment of Law of Marriage Act to raise the marriage age for girls to 18.