The Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA) has dished out
340 bags of cement for construction of hostels for female students of
Kifaru Secondary School in Mwanga District, Kilimanjaro Region.
The donation came at the time when there is an increase of
schoolgirls, who end-up dropping out of schools because of early
pregnancies as a result of lack of hostels in schools.
In Tanzania pregnancy is one of the major reasons for school dropout among teenage girls.
School headmaster, Abdallah Momboka lauded the bank for the
support, saying the hostel facility would provide a big relief to
student girls, who before used to end in the hands of unscrupulous men.
He said absence of hostel facility puts student girls at risk as
they fall prey of ‘predators’—men who lure schoolgirl for ‘love’
affairs.
“This support acts as a catalyst to girls’ educational
development, because they are facing a number of challenges,” the school
head said, adding: “When they are at home, schoolgirls are overwhelmed
with countless household tasks, compared to male students; hence get
little time for individual studies.”
“All these ruins girls’ education development and in turn make them perform poorly in their final exams,” Momboka said.
Commenting schoolgirl pregnancies problem, the school head said:
“Right now the problem at this school is not critical as it was before
2008.”
He however said: “The main challenge facing girls at the school
come from the well-to-do people who come up with their money and ruins
girls’ dreams at the expense of false love.
The school head described those men behind such dubious business as
“predators”, condemning them for their “disgraceful betrayal” to
teenage girls.
“When a girl is in Form One, and Two she performs well, but when
reaching Form Three, she started dropping and when you make a closer
follow-up you realise that she is full of other things like love affairs
and the likes in her head.”
The hostel which is under construction is expected to cost 64m/- upon its completion.
The 20 year-old school with more than 900 students from Form One to
Six is located between two villages of Kituri and Kifaru, in Kileo ward
of Mwanga District.
Northern Zone, CBA marketing manager, Solomon Kawiche said his bank
complements government’s efforts towards investing in school girls.
“This support is part of what we get and always brings back to the
community, I call upon other banks to chip in and support the education
development in schools located in remote areas,” he said.
“At CBA we believe in developing a girl child and get away with oppressing customs and traditions in our society.”
This also is part of bank campaign dubbed: ‘Book by Book’, which is meant to improve education in the country.
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