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As聽Tanzania prepares to introduce free basic education for all, the聽government has warned that it will punish parents who fail to聽ensure their children go to school.

In a major policy shift, primary and secondary schooling聽will be free for all Tanzanian children from January, as the聽government joins its East African neighbour Uganda in offering聽universal education free of charge.

The move to scrap fees in primary schools in聽2002 helped to increase primary enrolment from 59% of children aged seven to 13聽in 2000 to 94% 聽in 2011,聽according to UNICEF.

But parents still had to pay for extras like school books聽and uniform as well as school fees for some secondary schools.

The new policy aims to free families from any fees and聽contributions for 11 years of schooling.

Tanzania鈥檚 announcement means that 94 out of the 107 low and middle-income countries have legislated free lower secondary education, in the UNESCO Right to Education Database outlined in the Global Monitoring Report 2015.

It said the rising number of students completing primary education had fuelled the need for lower secondary schooling.

George Masaju, Tanzania鈥檚 attorney general, warned that聽parents deemed to be holding back efforts to create a literate聽society by keeping children out of school would face punishment.

Launch of the Sustainable Development Goals in Tanzania Picture:

鈥淐ausing a child to drop from school for any reason is a聽criminal offence because you offend his fundamental right of聽being educated,鈥� Masaju said late last month at a graduation聽ceremony at Feza School in Dar es Salaam.

While it is already compulsory for parents to send their聽children to class, parents have not been penalised in the past.

In a poor country where agriculture employs more than 80%聽of the workforce, Tanzanian children are sometimes kept聽at home to work in the fields or to sell fruit and vegetables in聽the cities.

From January, errant parents will be fined, but officials聽have yet to determine by how much, said an official at the聽Ministry of Education.

However, unlike in Uganda where the constitution provides聽for the enforcement of the right to education, in Tanzania no聽law criminalises parents who fail to put children in class.

鈥淚f one or two parents were punished under a specific law聽that discourages irresponsible behaviour, it would serve as a聽lesson to others,鈥� said Renatus Mkinga, a political commentator
based in Dar es Salaam.

But critics of such prosecutions said it was more important聽to address the root causes of absenteeism.

鈥淥ne of the biggest problems that most people face is聽poverty 鈥� if there were serious efforts to end poverty, most of聽these problems would die naturally,鈥� said Mary James, a primary聽school teacher in Mwanza in northern Tanzania.

Tanzania is on track to achieve the Millennium聽Development Goal on education 鈥撀� by enrolling more than 90%聽of children in primary schools, abolishing fees and聽building schools in every village

鈥淢ost schools in rural areas do not have books, pupils are聽sitting on the floor in overcrowded classes, it is hard to聽provide quality education in such situations,鈥� Mkinga said.

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