THE international organisation Malala Fund has allocated over $3 million (approximately 7bn/-) to empower girls who have dropped out of school for various reasons, including early pregnancy, and support them to return to school and continue their education.

This was announced over the weekend by Malala Fund Executive Director, Malala Yousafzai during her visit to Kongwa District Council in Dodoma region. The visit aimed to meet and engage with some of the girls who have resumed their education after previously having their schooling interrupted.

Malala urged parents and guardians to stop placing obstacles in the way of girls who have become pregnant from returning to school, stressing that education is the key to a better life and a critical path to fulfilling their dreams.

She discouraged the tendency of assigning girls to domestic work, pointing out that this practice hampers their educational development and places additional burdens on families and communities.

“We have observed that many girls in Tanzania drop out of school due to various challenges, including the long distances to school. Our goal is to collaborate with organisations such as Msichana Initiative to address these challenges,” Malala said.

Kongwa District Commissioner Mayeka Simon also appealed to parents and guardians to cease withdrawing children from school to send them into domestic labour. 

He explained that children engaged in domestic work usually do so for a few years and return home without skills or support, becoming a burden to their families. Worse still, they may face abuse, illness, and unplanned pregnancies.

He further urged community members to make use of council loans to improve their economic standing, rather than viewing girls as a source of family income.

Rebeca Gyumi, executive director of Msichana Initiative and a Malala Fund partner, said that the organisation has so far successfully helped around 600 girls who had dropped out of school due to pregnancy, child marriage, long travel distances to school, and domestic labour to return to education.

“Parents often send children to urban areas to work as domestic helpers, hoping to support their families. However, for those who do return to school, there are still significant challenges in building a supportive learning environment—especially for young mothers,” Gyumi said.

One beneficiary of the project, Esther Michael, described her return to school as a new light in her life and vowed to study hard to achieve her dreams.