13 February 2009
Education is a subject close to journalist Habiba Swedi's heart.
It was a concern with the state of education in her country of Tanzania that compelled her to join a DFID-backed action group working to get more children into the classroom.
And it was the same interest that led her, with fellow members of the "Friends of Education" group, to take on the cause of a 12-year-old girl, Esuphat, whose father was forcing her to drop out of school to marry a man 30 years her senior.
Family pressure
Esuphat's story was brought to Habiba's attention by the girl's older sister, Neema. With ten cows and six goats already handed over to the girls' father as dowry, university graduate Neema felt helpless to stop the marriage and keep her sister in education.
An education is often hard to come by for pastoralist children like Esuphat. Dependent on livestock for their livelihoods, pastoralist communities move from place to place in search of good grazing land, which means their children rarely have the chance to stay put in one school.
Worse, many parents see no value in girls being educated at all, believing that it's more important to find them a husband as quickly as possible. Daughters of pastoralist families have been known to be married off as young as six years old.
Taking action
A newspaper article by Habiba was successful in raising public awareness of Esuphat's plight, but she wanted to do more than just write about the subject.
Making use of her professional contacts, Habiba managed to obtain an audience with the District Commissioner, who agreed to send a team of police and Friends of Education group members to intervene in the marriage.
The police arrested Esuphat's father, who was subsequently prosecuted, while the Friends of Education focussed on getting the girl back into education. Esuphat is now at boarding school, continuing with her second year of primary education.
Shortly after helping Esuphat get back to school, Habiba and the Friends of Education scored another success when they persuaded the district council to find safe housing for female primary pupils in danger of forced marriage. Some of the girls from Longido primary were able to progress to secondary school - another victory for this keen advocate for education and a giant step towards more independent lives for more of Tanzania's girls.
Facts and stats
- The Friends of Education network is facilitated by HakiElimu, a local non-governmental organisation which has been at the forefront of advocating equal access to quality basic education in Tanzania.
- DFID supports HakiElimu’s work with a four-year grant of £1.5 million (2008-12). Currently there are over 26,000 Friends of Education members all over the country.
- Since the abolition of schools fees in 2001, primary education in Tanzania has been free: everyone is entitled regardless of gender, traditions, disability or geographical location. Primary school enrolment increased from less than 60% in 2000 to 97% by 2007.
