The Role of Parents in Family and Sex Education for De- velopment: With special Reference to Tanzania Y.D.M. Batwa Senior Lecturer, Depaptment of Education, University of Dor es Salaam. Vtaflti Vol Vlll No.1, 1986, Journal of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of DM es Salaam INTRODUCfION Giving birth is something in whlch mankind and animals are equal, but rearing the young, and especially educating them for many years is something which is a unique gift and respor,lSibilityof men. It isfor this reason that it is impor- tant for human beings to put emphasis on caring for children and the ability to look alter them properly, rather than thinking only about the ltUmber of children and the ability to give birth. For it often happens that men's ability to give birth is greater than their ability to bring up the children in a proper manntY.1 Traditionally, in most African countries, men and women have specific roles and functions to play in the development of their countries. Sometimes such norms and values have enabled parents, both men and women, to per- form separate functions in bringing up the next generation; especially in rais- ing them to adulthood. Bu tit is increasingly becoming clear that the raising of children in African societies should equally be-.shared by both men an dwom- en, considering the economic capabilities of the parents. President Nyerere (1979) aired similar views when introducing the Second Five Year Development Plan, in which he amplified parents' role in family life education. The responsibility of giving birth by Tanzanians or others implies (1) that giving birth is a shared responsibility between father and mother and other related individuals in case of African families; (2) that the totality of raising, caring and educating chil- dren in all walks of life, including customs, norms, vlues, attitudes, skills, for- mal or non-formal education, and family and sex education, is a parental role and function; and (3) that parents should plan and space children to enable them to provide the best rearing available and enhance communication between parents and children within the society. This paper dermes the terms, family and sex education, as related to parental role and sicusses the importance of family and sex education as' well W! the role that could be played by the parents and other adults in the preparation of youths into adulthood for future development. The paper further discusses the appli- cation of family and sex education in Tanzania and how parents in particular could enhance the teaching of this education in schools. It also deals with fac- tors which contribute to the slowness of adapting the edllcation in the school educational system. The paper provides examples of how other African coun- tries, like Kenya and Ghana, have managed to introduce family and sex educa- tion by involving parents and adults in their programmes. In so doing, the adults, and parents in particular, have managed to live up to their golden responsibili- ties in bringing up the youths to adulthood as future parents who will control and direct their own destiny and environment. 13 Definitions of Familv and Sex Education For purposes of this paper, family life education should be defined in the context of the expected target within a society. Family life Education is a conr tinuous learning process which starts in the home where family members act as models on human relations and human interactions. It deals with giving fa- mily members the aptitudes and knowledge necessary to fulfil their roles both in the family and in society, while developing harmonious relationships direct- ed towards a balanced relationship between family and society in order to im- prove the quality of family life, in which parents play a significant role.2 This definitions is linked to Family Planning Education which deals with making people, parents included, aware of the relationships between family size and quality of family life by showing them how they can plan the family in a ra- tional and realistic way, taking into account financial and material resources of the family including their health. Family Education arid Family Planning Education are both connected and linked to sex education. Sex Education, specifically, is a continuous learning process among the peoples in societies taught within acceptable customs, values and norms of a particular society.Sex education deals with developing in children and adults an understanding of their own sexual nature and needs, of changing sex roles and of the place of sex in the individual's personal and family life, for the in- dividuals to make responsible decjrions in regard to sexual behaviour.3 The Importance of Family and Sex Education Family and sex education should be undertaken as combined forces and factors contributive to the development of any society, and in particular to a developing country like Tanzanian in which the youths are looked upon as the future parents and, therefore, developmental forces for the society. If family and sex education are provided for a society, and in particular for the parents, they would enhance the practice of family planning which is important in the development of any country. The importance of family and sex education Jin development is seen in the sense that family planning effectiveness results n a lowering of the birth rates and, most likely, fertility decline. The World Popu- lation Plan of Action, adopted by the Bucharest Conference in 1974, saw the importance of family education and planning as a basic human right an 1 main- tained that: All couples and individuals have the basic right to decide freely and responsibly me number and spacing of their children und to Have the information, education and means to do so, the responsibility of couples and individuals in the exercise of this righttakes into account the needs of their living and future children and their responsibilities toward the community.4 The importance of family and sex education through family planning is seen to be the role of the parents towards the needs of their own living and future children. It has positive influence on the health of mothers and their chil- dren, and thus on the entire family. Family and sex education contribute to family health, to the mental and social well-being of mothers, fathers and their children by enabling parents to achieve their reproductive objectives and at the same time, have control over their pattern and direction of their lives arid, in so doing, positively contributing to a healthy society for development. Family and sex education help to eliminate the health hazards associated with close 14 pregnancies, and therefore prevent most unwanted pregnancies. In Tanzania, if family and sex education are extended, to the rural communities, they can contribute towards freeing women from unwanted fertility and thus promote their physical health and out-reach beyond traditional roles. This would en hance their 6w^a sense of social and psychological well-being and the contribu- tion th^:ina$:e'to the well-being of their families, villages and communities. taw&rimwex education are important because they enable parents to view them as a health education, not only for themselves, but also for their children' future development. .Traditionally, Tanzanian youths were prepared "for the responsibilities of family life, including sex education, through initiation ceremonies at puberty. Many of these customs have been abandoned and no adequate substitute has. been provided. In schools, the preparation of youths for responsible parenthood is totally ignored and one result is pregnancies among primary school girls. The family and sex education to be provided should be for different targets as indi- cated in the definition. For example, out-of-school youths should be the focus, on the assumption that, they are the base of future families. A family life edv cation for this target group may deal with topics like history and behaviour of a family, responsible sexual behaviour, parental responsibilities on employ- ment, migration to the city, family planning practices, nutrition and health care. Family life education may also take different forms depending on the priorities of a particular country. It deals with a unit (family) which influences and is influenced by the large society in which it exists. And for family life education to be successful, the parents are essential for theprocess of rearing the children and youths into a grown-up society of responsible parents. The concept of family life education is not. new to manv narents. and perhaps the name is derived from traditional societies in which the parents play a vital role in educating tjtie children of a particular ethnic group about various ways of life. Children were taught by adults of the same clan, village or com- munity. These societies used the socialisation process which involved adults teaching children about adulthood. This kind of family education was func- tional and important since it taught the young the needed knowledge, technical skills, physical skills, social and cultural skills necessary to make them a part of the expected future society. Among the specific subjects taught in the tradi- tional system by the parents, were, sex education and the process of giving birth and rearing children. But it should he noted that the introduction of western education and religions forced family education to become private and individual matters, and this also changed its importance, Vriesendorp5, emphasising the changing pattern of family education through foreign institutions, stated: Family life suddenly became some sort of holy institution in which reproduction was to take place in the strict intimacy of the conjugal bed, not to be discussed outside the bed. The only events which were still public were marriage celebra- tions, births and deaths. Whatever happened in between was considered strictly private. A distance was being created between parents and children based on the philosophy that children are innocent creatures not to be spoiled by the knowledge of the "facts of life" and who should certainly not to be bothered with the hard realities and responsibilities of married life before it was considered their time. Responsible parenthood became something to be prepared for. Family life educa- tion (including sex education) gradually disappeared from the the scene as something'un- natural and unnecessary. 15 The western attitude of individualism, as opposed to the Mrlean traditional life based on collectivism widened the gap between parents and their 'children who received less 'preparation for adulthood. It is increasingly necessary that schools and youth organisations should be made the appropriate institutions for providing family life education, as well as sex education, by involving the parents, as was the case before colonialism. Family life education content de- pends on the social-cultural setting and the c<;onomic realities of a country, and this has been taken into account by some African countries which have attempted . to implement family life education. Two of these African countries are Kenya and Ghana. '" . Kenya is recorded to have been the fIrst countfY in sub-saharan Africa which expressed the need to curb the country's population growth in her fIrst fIve-year plan (1965-1970). Kenya instituted a national progranime in 1967 which catered for family life-education, issues on environment and international aware- ness. In 1972; the Christian Council of Kenya set up a programme to deal with the preparation of young persons into adulthood responsibilities, by involving parents. The issues covered in that programme included human sexuality, reproduction, contraception and the impact of family size on individuals and society. The programme was expected to help the youths, the future parents in the society, to be able to identify and develop values for interaction and com- municiation within the society. The programme was also expCcted to reduce anxi- ety; fallacies and fears of sexual relationS'so as to accommodate emotional, physical and social factors that influence sexual responsibilities. The programme also included discussion groups for p~ents on the assump.tion that they would use the knowledge obtained in bringing up their children.' . Ghana on the other hand, is one of the African countries in the sub-saharan region, with a national policy on population education which is implemented through education programmes. The National Family Planning Programme, in conjuction with the Ghana Home Science Association, provides educational programmes, on family planning as well as family life education. Several work~ ; shops have been organised to train ~d bring awareness to ~he teachers involved in teaching family education'. Vriesendofl)6 (1980), emphasising this point, stated: The emphasis of this workshop was both on the development of awareness of the need and the approach to teaching family life at middle school and teacher trqining levels. The participants developed two teaching units, one on thefamity, antl another on the teenager in the family for use within the age group of 12-17 7f!flrs. Thus, Kenya and Ghana have identifIed the role of parents in farniiy life education, as well as the use of schools, involving the teachers, parents and stu- dents and evaluating and partJcipating in programmes through informal feed- back. Other:~ African countries that have ~aKen interest and some action include Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo, Nigeria, Mali, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Botswana, Swaziland, Somalia, Zambia and Tanzania. Parental and School Roles in Family Life and Sex Education African families once lived and worked together, with parents having out- standing responsibilities in the taising of children, the boys were;nrined in man- ish functions and the girls in domestic responsibilities. The father was the overall chief executive administrator and a :specialist in b.oys' practical training, the mother was the specialist in domestic science and in training the girls. Both father and mother at one time or another had to teach family and sex: education. There- fore, for complete education and for the purposes of making our educational institutions graduates competent and functional individuals in Tanzania, fami- ly and sex education should be provided as part of the complete package of educaJ:ion as outlined in Edl,lcation for Self-Reliance. The study, "Socio-Cultural Case ~tudy for "Population Eaucation in Tan- zania", by Omari and Sumra (1980) showed that the climate for offering sex education under the umbrella of population education exists in Tanzania, al- beit unwillingly, If the Ministry of Education was to utilise the existing con- ducive climate by introducing sex education in the Thnzaniim schools, the following factors should be taken into consideration: (1) Some teache:rs in tfie schools stilI hold to the old traditional norms and cultural values in teaching sex educat.ion .a,s a subj~ct matter in schools. Therefore, politicislng of these teachers would be necessary. (2) Sex education in terms of c~ntents and curric- ulum should be taught in relation to health and religious studies. And ,whatever curriculum is accepted should include the societal norms ana values, and (3) Since there is a strong preference by parents that such sensitive sex topics be taught to boys and girls separately, a compromise should be reached as to offer the same content to all students at the same time. However,-this author con- tends that it would be extremely difficult to teach sex education without first re-educating the Tanzani~n adults as well as the parents. For sex education is an issue that concerns parents and the society at large, since it involves chang- ing the traditional customs and beliefs which contribute to the_parents' resistance . to the introduction of sex education in schools. It raises parental concerns, and of other groups like religious sects of various denominations in the society, since it becomes a question of morality and ethics. Yet, the major concern should' be ;:tbout the youths in primary and secondary schools, whose ages range from J 4 to 21, who are ~he next generation. Every culture, including the Tanzanian one, has its moral code and children are brought up to believe that certain things are right or wrong, good Qr evil. This is the acceptable way to behave, and what is expected by people, and that is themoraIity of the culture, whatever it may be. If youths or anybody else breaks this code, then society can judge them immoral. Forexample, the Omari and Sumra study in Zanzibar, indicated that parents prefer to have sex:education taught to boys and girls separately so that the moral code can protect the youths. This belief is based on the assumption that if the students were taught together, the boys would spoil the girls. This author Sees the possibility of a compromise between parents and the authori- ties if sex education is taught at secondary school level in Tanzania, provided that parents are sensitised through their political party and other institutions. If the parents are to change the already - set attitude_s to human s~xuaIi- ty, then a dialogue through political adult education and family education must be established at their dosest focal points - the primary schools. This process could enable parents to talk with their children and youths about sex in a non- judgem..ental '.vay and at the same ~me reduce' internal. tensions wit~in parents, . which, pyschologists like Freud and Butts claim, is the parent's fear to admit before their children, that sex is a marvellous, creative, varied, tremendous and wonderful experience. It is within this context that parents refuse to provide sex education to their children, because it imp'oses to'o great a burden on 17 parent-child relationship. If the parents decline to provide the basic sex educa- tion at home, where can the children get information and answers on sex edu- cation? Awareness of how the young human being can be helped to develop into manhood or womanhood is as essential a part of reproductive biology and sex education, as any other education necessary for life, whose basis thepar- ents can contribute to while bringing children to adulthood. If this is done in the proper manner by the parents, it would ease their concern about what com- panions their children have, about the use of leisure time; impact of the com- munity or environment. It is common knowledge that in many homes the parents are unable to deal with even the facts of where babies come from or the biolog- ical materials. In the case of Tanzania, while the Party may provide political dialogue to the adults and parents, primary, secondary schools and institutions of higher learning, through political or educational forum and discussions could create awareness and participation in this matter in the country. The Ministry of Edu- cation, in conjuction with the Ministry of Health and the Association of Tan- zania Family Planning (UMA TI), can work on politicising the adults and parents so as to change their attitudes toward the education which is necessary for the youth development. It is understood that UMA TI has started working on this through seminars to political leaders but there is need to extend such needed services village and all levels in Tanzania for parents. It should be noted that children learn about their bodies themselves and they are motivated to learn about sex education, as Freud theorised, and that such attempts should be aided by parents at home, first, then extended into the schools curriculum and the society at large. The family education at village level could include sensitising families on living conditions, water supply, sani- tary services, malnutrition, social services, food storage, functional literacy and other items selected by villagers themselves, including sex education. The children learn best when they learn what real people (parents) say and do. According to Dr. Butts, there are eleven factors that either our children do better today, or we parents attempt not do to help them for their growth. These factors are: (1) Children learn more today than we did as youngsters some years ago; (2) Children today learn more from what they see on the street directly than wha.t they read about in the classrooms; (3) All children imitate others, indeed this is how we all learn. However, parents need to surround the children or youths with good and exiciting choices of sex education materials because they (children) will encounter harmful and exciting lessons on the street; (4) In most cases, parents hide sexual feelings and values from children, instead of finding ways of expressing them honestly and openly in conversation; (5) Yet, many of ou" children learn these behaviours through cinema, newspapers, books, media (radio music) and peer groups; (7) Most parents do the best they can to hide that they themselves have sexual desires and needs, while the chil- dren know this; (8) The most sensitive sex organ we have is not between the legs, but lies between the ears. It should be noted over-and-over again that chil- dren are being educated about sex education with or without parental consent; (9) There is no ideal or proper time for parents to impart sex education, we do it all the time, whe.her we realise it or not; (10) It is true that parents hesi- tate and are embarrassed when children ask about sex-related matters, but let us remember that youngsters have their own urges, passions and feelings, and (11) It should be possible for parer-ts to remember their own youth, unresolved impulses, sexual fantasies; and share these with their children at the appropriate 18 time since these can be great resources for understanding life.' Ifall this c~uld be gone by the adults and'the parents, it would aid tremen- dously their OWnexperiences and understanding of normal life for the bringing up of their own children, and the childi-en would greatly benefit from that learn- ing experience. Sex education is based on the same principles which characterist' the learning process in general. It is understandable that we learn best when the material is personal, immediate and positively reinforced. Anything that is personal or which involves our bodies is le.arned quickly, because we are !11- volved personally. Each one of us was taught by surrounding ofcfer people how to become socialised human beings, as shown in Chart 1. We learnt because their interaction with us affected each one of us personally and made .lasting impressions. The old, traditional'learning process indicated by arrows could somehow be modified to suit a present sex education curriculum in schools. CHAR! 1: Learning process between: Parents and Children in Family, and Sex F.ducatlon , ' FATHER co.(---_--')_ MOTHER "\ CHILDREN /' I GRAND-PARENTS \ What happens to our children now is more important perhaps than what happened yesterday, or will happen tomorrow. Thoughts and fantasies of a sex- ual nature are quite natural and reflect o~r ability to think in the .a!2s.tract ang , to make free associations. This is what other educators have called natural in- ~ telligence. If the children lacked this, they would not. be able to imagin~' the past or the future. 'Sex education is one source of learning because if teaches that the body is wholesome, that sex is an integral part of life, and that how we go about expressing sexual feelings should be consistent with society. Experience, observatlonand experiments in life indicate that rewards produce better results 1nan do punishments, so children and youths can learn better and more effectivdy with the aid of parents. For example, the baby at about 2-4 months of age begins to regard his/her hand with great interest, which is a sign of intellectual d('velopment and alsO of motor control. It is then a matter of time before any normal child or baby learns or. discovers the genitals, and that they belong to self. Therefore, it is quite natural for a baby to touch the geni- tals, but unfortunately, this spontaneous behaviour anneys parents, not to men- tion grandparents. ~s a resu~t parents become anxious and interfere with the -19 baby's natura! curiosity. Some parents go to the extent of punishing the baby for touching his/her own genitals.9 Positive understanding of sex education by parents can contribute to better parenthood, especially if provided in schools this time in Tanzania, where evidence exists that the government realizes the fundamental importance of family and sex education in the society. For exam- ple, the office of the Prime Minister has an internationally supported project on that subject, whose members of the Executive Com~ttee, represent the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Education and Ministry of Labour and So- cial Welfare. It is true that the government recognises the responsibilities of the families and communities in terms of family size, intervals between births, infant and maternall)1ortality, rural-urban migration and responsible parent- hood. The government's attempts to undertake family life matters as intergtal part of its social and economic programmes are obvious in the familv life edu- cation project under the supervision of the Prime Minister's office. This author contends that such a project or programme by the government, should be designed to include sex education for schools and adults, towards the improve- ment of the quality of life of those individuals born in the society, with special attention to those in the rural areas where developments seem to be slow. The project in the Prime Minister's Office, includes Human Growth and Develop- ment, Family Health, Family and Responsible Parenthood and Family Management. The concept of sex education is not well understood by many parents and therefore, parents often view the mention of sex education with suspicion. It is-the contention of this author that the right time to introduce sex education should be at primary level with the co-operation of the parents and their in- volv.ement in designing the curriculum based on community and self-reliance education. It should be noted that teaching sex education will not in itself solve the problems facing the youths today. Issues such as school girl pregnancies do not necessarily occur because of lack of'Sex education in schools. It is im- portant that, for the success of sex education, parents' attitudes should first be dealt[, with, through the Party's policy and programmes in Tanzania so that such programmes can be accepted in schools by the teachers and parents. Party and religious leaders should be involved and their support must be sought for sex education to succeed. For, a child learns much from his/her parents: their attitudes toward one another and their willingness or reluctance to dis- cuss matters pertaining to sex in an open manner without embarrassment. It should then be deduced that parental attitudes toward sex are reflected in the behaviour and reactions of their children. Sex is usually used to refer to the genital organs and the activities in which they are involved, especially the production of children. But sex involves much more than reproduction. Sex, or sexuality, involves one's entire personality. It involves the identification of a person with a gender (males as distin~uished from females), and with such an identification, operson develops feelings, atti- tudes, and behaviours that are appropriate for that sex. He or she will influence and be influenced by everyone with whom he or she comes into contact social- ly. That association will determine one's life-style of living, one's feelings and reactions to others of their own or the opposite sex. The issue here is the in- volvement of the entire person, a function that could best be done by the pat- tern of sexual development in children, so that they could positively enhance the growing of children in all matters under parent's supervision and control; this would reduce tensions between children and parel1ts in sexual matters. While it is not the purpose of this paper to analyse early sexual develop- 20' ment in children, it may suffice to pomt to the work of Freud who believed that the pare~t was more th~ merely ~ model for the initiation of appropriate sex:u~ al behavIOur: Ftel!d be~Iev~dthat Identification rather than imitation was likely to occur, .for IdentIfi.cation Involves the acquisition of many aspects of the model's pers~>nality an~ eventual development into a super-ego. He theorised that ex:- ceSSIve frustratIOn of s~ual. needs at any time in the three stages of develop- ment cou~d result m fIXatIo~ at that stage of regression into an earlier .psychologIcal state and that thi~ accounted for most adult neuroses. His sex:ual development states are shown m Thble 1. Tablet: Stages in Sexual Development, According to. Freudian TbeorylO STAGE AGE Cbaracteristic_ Activities Oral Birth to One Year Pleasurable activities involve the mouth (suck- ling, eating, chewing, biting) Anal Stage One Year tc Pleasure centres about retention and exclusion Three Years of wastes. Pr~per toilet training should be nei- neither too ~rmi~sive nor too stri.ct Plallic stage Tnree years to Pleasure centres about genital organs. Oedipus Six YearS complex and castration anxiety develop in males, electra complex and peds envy in females.. Latency Six years plus Oedipa~ and electral complexes are. resolved, Period child identifies with parent of the same sex. Erotic impulses toward opposite sex repressed. Genital Stage Adolescence Heterosexual love and sexuality develop replac- ing egocentric love. Sex drives are channelled into group activities and pretparation for work and ml'\Iriage. Source..lO Thble 1 is modified from Life and Health, 1972 CRM. Inc. and cited in an article.. The Development of Human Sexuality, University of Chicago: Popu- lation Wokshop, 1979 Few psychologists today accept all government intended to build extra MCH clinics, since the' party and govern- ment would like to have strong children, who are the succes~')rs of the pre,en' generation and are the dependable force for building the Tan:ania of tomor- row. (2) That family planning should be stressed, in terms of the need for child spacing as an important factor in promoting the health of the l:hildren and adult mothers; (3) That Tanzanians should continu~ to observc personal and environ- mentai hygiene so as to ensure good health for the children and the adults them- selves; and (4) The Government supports the Family Planning Association of Tanzania (UMA TI), through the Ministry of Health by making available con- traceptive supplies and training medical and paramedical personnci within the MCH programme in family planning.'6 This ha~ been the political appl:cutlon of family a,*-sex education in terms of principle" '" hose actualisalion would result in curriculum for such prorammes. Another way of discovering adults attitudes toward the imTOdllction and application of family and sex education has been through research on parC:}llal reactions which, as shown in the study by l.M. Omari and S.A. Sumra' Gll "Social-Cultural Case Study for Population Education in Tanzania". supports 23 the government's efforts and views on health, education, rural education orien- tation, and also by looking at the possibility of teaching sex education. However, it should be noted that the question of sex education in educational institutions is partly an issue of changing attitudes and is not an easy matter to deal with. For Omari and Sumra discovered that, "discussion of such topics as sex andlor education between parents and young people in Zanzibar and some parts on Tanzania mainland are forbidden by authorities and religious institutions". This finding conforms with the contention that colonialism (including its mission- aries) made the issue a private one by cutting off the traditional teaching.of sex education which used to be part of the initiation rites and the privileged domain of certain, specified family and community elders.'8The parents in the study sample reali~e that sex education was taught by the adult parents to the youth on their way to adulthood. Those youngest in question could be com- pared to the present primary schoolleavers who, at the end of primary seven, are expected by society to have reached sufficient maturity to live and work in villages, where they become functional parents to whom sex education would be both desirable and appropriate. The study also indicated the reluctance of teachers and parents in teaching or discussing matters related to sex education, even though the policy of edu- cation for self-reliance, through adult education campaigns and political edu- cation programme, has created awareness for the need and teaching of sex education. Unlike Kenya and Ghana which provide sex education in schools, Tanzania does not, even though education for Self-Reliance expresses the pro- vision of complete education for the nation's boys and girls. It is argued that "we should determine the type of things taught in the primary schools by the. things which the boy or girl ought to know, that is, the skills to acquire and the values to cherish if he or she is to live happily and well in a socialist and predominantly rural society and to contribute to the improvement of life there" .'9 Lack of complete education for Tanzanian youths has shown un- favourable results based on several factors. Two of these include lack of parental control on children at home and girl's pregnancies in schools, for which sex education is not a preventive measure. Through observations of Tanzania fa- milies, it can be deduced that parents do not entertain sex discussions with their own children since this could be embarrassing because of societal norms and values: . This trend has left a lot of young girls, often school girls, without the neces- sary education for preventive measures and a good number of them drop out of schools because of pregnacies~ There are other cases that could be cited in- dicating lack of sex education as a cause for dropping out. Mwampeta, in his paper "Experiences in the Implementation of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in Tanzania", argues lhat in 1976 the Ministry of Education (ME) en- rolled 15,155 students in UPE, but by the end of March 1979-1,654 students had dropped out, which is about 11 per cent. In 1977, students had decreased from 15,000 to 13,747 by March 1979 (8 percent). But, in the case of Mtwara region, Mwampeta argues that the main cause for dropouts was found to be pregnancies .. and other related social factors as shown in table 2. Table 3 gives similar findings for Iringa Region. In Table 2, the results show that 86 percent of all dropouts were caused by pregnancies, while table 3, reveals that the students expelled as a result of being pregnant, form 43 percent of all cases. Accordingly, in Iringa and Mtwara 24 regIons, pregnancies are the major bottleneck for the discontinuation of girls from_schools. l[nder these conditions, one ca~ deduce that the pregnancies oc:- TABLE 2: Pupil Dropout and Reasons in Mtwara Regioll20 Dropout Cases Reasons 361 Pregnancies 24 Joined the Army 29 Other Jobs 5 Deaths TABLE 3: Student Dropouts in Irlnga Re$Ion Schools21 DISTRIcT Preg- Village (lther Theft Army CNE Death Total nancy Secretary Job lringa Rural 8 3 17 30 lringa Urban 1 1. 2 Lud~wa 8 3 12 Mufindi 8 10 Njombe 12 8 1 2 3 3 2 31 Total 36 9 4 9 20 4 3 85 cur because the girls and boys involved lacked adequate sex and-family educa-, tion from their parepts, communities, as weiI as the schools invo.lved. At the same time it can be argued that if parents had family life education and _were teaching their children about sex education at horrie, then the chances of preg- nancies could have been minimized or eliminated altogether. Conclusions - -Thnzania is committed to its policy of socialism and self-reliance which re--. -quires adequately educated individuals who can participate effectively in the na- tional development. It has shown its willingness through its political will to continue providing facilities to enhance the health of its people, especially those living in the rural areas. It is continuing in this area by aiding UMATI to pro- vide fanilly planning education for the people. It is recommended that these services should be extended and consolidated, especially in the rural ~. The other area to be considered and applied in the Thnzanian education system is sex education for development. There have been attempts, through workshops and conferences, advances which have reached stages to integrate it with the school curriculum. There is adequate evidence, as shown from school girl pregnancies. that sex _education could minimise such occurrences._ 25 F~y and sex education are essential in the development of Thnzania, and as the literacy ~te goes up the need to improve the health of mothers and chil- dren becomes an immediate ."task. It may be true to agree with James P. Grant Executive Direct.orof the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) who ar: gues th~t: The hl~er the female literacYrate, the higher the positive indicators for family planmng programmes, less frequent pregnancies, which in turn im- proves maternal and child health. That eduCation can increase incomes and agricultural productivity and therefore developments not only in Thnzania"but elsewhere too. REFERENCES 1. Nyerere, J .K. The Second Five Year Development Plan: Government Printer, Oar es Salaam, 1969. 2. UNESCO, Population Education A Contemporary Concern: Educational Studies and Docu- ments No. 28, 1978. Paris. 3. Vriesendorp, S. "Family Life Education in Africa" in Population Education and Cirrculum Thanges adited by S. Sumra, Arusha, December 1980. - 4. Sadik, N. "Family Planning: Improving the Health of Women and their Children". Draper Fund Report No.9, October 1980 Washington D.C., U.S.A. S. Vriesendrop, S. "Family Life Education in Africa" in Population Education and Curriculum Changes, Oar es Salaam 1980. 6. Ibid, Op. Cit in No. 5 above. 7. Bwatwa, Y.M. "Parental Participation in the International Year of the Child in Tanzania". University of Oar es Salaam, 1980 (Research Paper). 8. Butts, J.D. "Sex Education", in Ebony Magazine, Vol. XXXII, No.6 Chicago, April, 1979, U.S.A. 9. Ibid, Op. Cit. 10. Thble modified from life and Health, 1972 CRM. Inc. and ci~ed in an article: "The Develop- ment of Hllman Sexuality': University of Chicago: Population Workshop, 1979. 11. Ibid, Op. Cit. 12. Sunday News Opinion on, "Children's Health", in Sunday News, April, 8, 1984. 13. UMATI, Provisional Estimates of Fertility, Mortality and Population Growth for Tanzania; Oar es Salaam 1970. 14. Ibid; Op. Cit. 15. /lJid; Op. Clt. K "Tl.-Y"car I(i; Nyerere, J ..• '" of th~-, Child' in SumMY News, Tanzania NO.1 335 January 7, 1979 Dar ell Salaam. " 17. Omari I. M. and Sumra, S. S. "Social Cultural Case Study for Population Education in Tan- z:ania", Oar ell S aiaam 1980. 18, Ibid; Op. Cit. 19. Nyerere, J. K. Education for Self-Reliance: G ..."vernment Printer, Or es Salaam. 1967. 20. Mwampeta, A. O. "~~riences i.the impll:I!1elllati;:m of UPE ifl.Tam.ania", Arusha 1980. 21. Ibiq. Op. Cit. 26