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The World Bank has suspended a $ 300 million educational loan to Tanzania because of concerns over the country's policy of banning pregnant girls from going to school.
The lending mechanism was intended to assist the Tanzanian Ministry of Education in improving access to quality secondary education.
It was to be approved by the bank's management at the end of last month, but a bank source told CNN that the program had been withdrawn and that it would no longer be implemented.
Tanzanian policy of expelling pregnant girls from school was one of the reasons for the withdrawal of the loan, reports CNN.
A law dating back to the 1960s allows all Tanzanian public schools to ban young mothers from going to school.
According to a report published in 2013 by the Center for Reproductive Rights, more than 55,000 Tanzanian pregnant schoolgirls were fired from school.
In June, Tanzanian President John Magufuli took a further step in announcing that pregnant students would not be allowed to return to school after giving birth.
There are no official statistics on the number of pregnant girls who have been expelled from Tanzanian schools.
Women's groups In Tanzania, the ban is out of step with public opinion and contravenes international human rights conventions.
It also contradicts a promise made in the ruling party's 2015 election manifesto, which promised to allow pregnant schoolgirls to continue their education.
Source: Africafeeds.com
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