“I Had a Dream to Finish School”

By 2030, the government also aspires to ensure equal access to affordable and quality
technical, vocational, and tertiary education. 48 On the same timeline, all youth and a
substantial proportion of men and women should have also achieved functional literacy
and numeracy. 49
Social and Economic Barriers Keeping Children Out of Secondary School
Many children of school-going age are confronted with social and economic barriers that
impede their access to education, relating to gender, disability, or income. Many children
and adolescents are also exposed to human rights abuses and harmful practices, including
child labor and child marriage, that make schooling difficult or impossible for them. 50
In 2015 and 2016, Tanzania became a “pathfinder country” of the United Nations’ Global
Partnership to End Violence Against Children, which is rooted in a commitment to ending
violence against children by 2030. 51 The government adopted a comprehensive national
plan to tackle all forms of violence and harmful practices affecting children and women,
including those which disproportionately affect vulnerable children, listed below. 52
Vulnerable Children
The government estimates that 74 percent of all Tanzanian children live in
“multidimensional poverty,” and that 29 percent live in households below the monetary
poverty line. 53 Between 2008 and 2012, primary school net attendance among the poorest
http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Documents/incheon-framework-for-action-en.pdf (accessed August 30, 2016), p. 8,
“Target 4.1,” and “Target 4.4.a,” p. 12.
48 Ibid., Goal 4.3.
49 “UNESCO et al, “Education 2030, Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action – Towards inclusive and equitable quality
education and lifelong learning for all,” Target 4.6,” p. 19.
50 Human Rights Watch, Toxic Toil: Child Labor and Mercury Exposure in Tanzania’s Small-Scale Gold Mines, August 2013,
https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/08/28/toxic-toil/child-labor-and-mercury-exposure-tanzanias-small-scale-gold-mines; No
Way Out: Child Marriage and Human Rights Abuses in Tanzania, October 2014, https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/10/29/noway-out/child-marriage-and-human-rights-abuses-tanzania#78bac8.
51 Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, “Country Level Engagement,” undated, http://www.endviolence.org/countries.html
(accessed December 5, 2016).
52 United Republic of Tanzania, “National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children in Tanzania, 2017/18 –
2021/2022,” December 2016, http://www.mcdgc.go.tz/data/NPA_VAWC.pdf (accessed January 9, 2016).
53 Multidimensional poverty is defined by a combination of indicators of monetary well-being, children’s well-being, and
living standards. United Republic of Tanzania, National Bureau of Statistics, and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
“I HAD A DREAM TO FINISH SCHOOL” 32