By Toby McIntosh
The World Bank Board has approved a $500 million loan for secondary education in Tanzania, despite a “no” vote by the United States, which wanted more done to address the expulsion of pregnant girls from school.
The United States “remains extremely concerned about the success of this project absent a strong commitment from the government to end the practices of involuntary pregnancy testing at school and expelling pregnant girls from school.” according to a statement obtained by Eyeontransparency.net. See text: US_Position_on_the_WB_SEQUIP_project_for_Tanzania
Concerns about the expulsion of pregnant girls, 5,500 last year, caused the Bank in October to delay approval of the project, which then was for $300 million (See previous EYE report.) The World Bank document on the loan at the time said that “pregnancy accounts for about 10 percent of female drop-out since pregnant girls are legally prevented from continuing in school.”
However, the government denied having an expulsion policy, according to the Bank’s explanations accompanying its March 31 approval announcement, which says there is “no government policy” that students who become pregnant must be expelled from public schools.
The Bank says “most pregnant girls do drop out,” but attributes that to “long-standing social and cultural attitudes and norms.”
The Bank pledges “to continue to advocate halting the practice” through “ongoing policy dialogue with the government,” according to the Bank’s factsheet.
Addressing the issue of whether government policy supports expulsion, a Bank spokesperson wrote EYE that the pregnancy is interpreted by schools as “an offence against morality” in Education Regulations Act No. 295 that justifies expulsion.
US Urged Conditionality
The US sought to place a condition on the loan to ensure progress on eliminating the expulsions. It unsuccessfully urged addition of a “disbursement-linked indicator” that would have committed the government “to agree to ‘free choice’ as that would have given pregnant girls full rights to decide the best option for them.”
Board votes are not released, so it is unclear if other members concurred with the US. Minutes of the meeting will be released here in a few days.
The US statement also expressed disappointment that monitoring system involving civil society is “not already in place.” It said, “The United States urges the World Bank to come back to the Board with semi-annual updates on SEQUIP implementation, given the high-risk environment in which the project will be implemented.”
“The United States wishes to be recorded as voting no on this operation, as vulnerable communities still face significant risks in not being able to access quality education, and there remains great concern that the project will continue to stigmatize girls,” according to the one-page statement.
The US said the Bank “has made notable efforts to improve the prospects for enabling pregnant girls to continue with their education in Tanzania through their modifications to the project’s targets.”
Elin Martinez, senior children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement, “The World Bank should be working with governments to move education systems toward full inclusion and accommodation of all girls in public schools, including those who are pregnant or parents.” She commented, “Instead, the World Bank failed to use its leverage and caved to Tanzania’s discriminatory ban and practices, undermining its own commitment to nondiscrimination.”
Bank Touts Other Benefits
Improving post-pregnancy options was also emphasized by Bank, which said the loan (known as SEQUIP) “gives pregnant girls, young mothers, and other vulnerable children who leave school early the possibility to return to the formal system and complete their education.” It said, “The project tackles the issues facing pregnant girls with an approach informed by civil society organizations and NGOs, in Tanzania and around the world.”
“SEQUIP’s design strives to give pregnant girls and young mothers a better chance to complete their education,” according to a press release quote from Caren Grown, Senior Director of the Gender Group at the World Bank. “The Bank has stepped up its work to create a new generation of education programs that emphasize safe school environments for girls and boys, including measures that reduce gender-based violence, corporal punishment, bullying, and other forms of violence in and around schools. It gives girls better quality choices and opportunities for completing their secondary education.”
More generally, the Bank emphasizes plans to broaden educational opportunities for girls, with “two-thirds of funds going exclusively to girls.” The factsheet says “over 50 percent” will be for girls.
The Banks says some of funding will improve “alternative educational pathways” for girls leaving regular schools and help them get back into the education system later. “The government has reaffirmed that pregnant girls who enroll in AEP can sit for national secondary school examinations,” the Bank says. The funding will also support a Safe Schools Program (SSP) to reduce violence in schools.
Tanzania “to Assess” Compulsory Pregnancy Testing
Although the government “has publicly confirmed there is no policy or regulation obligating, expecting or encouraging schools to carry out pregnancy tests,” the Bank noted that “this is known to be a practice that takes place in public, private, and faith-based schools.”
“The World Bank believes that involuntary pregnancy testing contradicts the spirit of an inclusive and safe learning environment and has communicated this position emphatically to the government,” according to the factsheet.
The Bank adds that “the government has agreed to assess the prevalence of pregnancy testing and develop an approach to address this practice.”
A Project Operations Manual (POM) will be prepared, but it will only be made public with the permission of the government, which in the past has vetoed releasing documents when it had the option under the Bank’s disclosure policy. (See previous EYE article.)
