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II.
the presence of the Complainants, the Respondent State, the amicus curiae and
the Deponents of the affidavits submitted.
The hearing of the Deponents was postponed to the 39th Ordinary Session held
from 21 March to 01 April 2022 due to procedural issues. The hearing of the
Deponent of Affidavit 2 was held on 29 March 2022 in the presence of the
Deponent, the Complainants, and the Respondent State.
The Respondent State submitted a Circular issued by the Ministry of Education,
Science and Technology on 04 July 2022 as it relates to measures undertaken by
the Respondent State regarding the issues raised in this Communication.
Summary of alleged facts
2. The Complainants allege that primary and secondary school girls are subjected to
forced pregnancy testing and expulsion from schools in events where they are found
pregnant or married. While acknowledging that the exact number of children expelled
from schools for reasons of pregnancy or marriage is unknown, the Complainants
submit that Tanzania’s 2013 Basic Education Statistics provides that 2433 primary
schoolgirls and 4705 secondary schoolgirls dropped out of school due to pregnancy
in 2012. Moreover, the Complainants allude to reports from Human Rights Watch that
over 15,000 girls drop out of school every year due to pregnancy. It is also submitted
that the study conducted by one of the Complainants, Center for Reproductive Rights,
provides that over 55,000 female students dropped out of school due to pregnancy
between 2003 and 2011.
3. The Complainants allege that mandatory pregnancy testing is practiced in almost all
public schools subjecting girls as young as 11 years of age to pregnancy testing. It is
submitted that the testing does not follow any standard and sometimes painful
methods, such as poking, are applied to check for pregnancy by school personnel.
The Complainants allege that pregnancy testing is undertaken without the consent of
the girls and most often the results are not communicated to the girls but rather shared
with school staff without the consent of the girls. Girls are also required to take a
pregnancy test when they enrol in schools.
4. The allegation of the Complainants provides that girls who are found to be pregnant
before being enrolled will not be accepted to schools and those girls who are found to
be pregnant in the school year are expelled from schools. The Complainants allude to
the fact that neither pregnancy testing nor expulsion of students due to pregnancy is
prescribed by the Education Regulations. The Complainants provide that pregnancy
is not included as a ground for expulsion in the Education (Expulsion and Exclusion
of Pupils from School) Regulation 2002 G.N. No. 295 of 2002, however, school
administrators interpret pregnancy to be an offence against morality which is one of
the grounds of expulsion under the Regulation. The Complainants also indicate that
some school administrators expel pregnant girls from school claiming that it is
government policy. As expulsion is a universal practice in public schools, girls who
find out about their pregnancy by themselves drop out of school to escape the
humiliation and stigma they will be subjected to if school administrators find out about
their pregnancy during mandatory testing. Moreover, the Complainants submit that
the expulsion and exclusion of pregnant schoolgirls has no exception such as in cases
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