Government geared to protect girls in universities
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) has launched what it is calling Model Gender and Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy in order to protect girls and women from all sorts of sexual harassment from male lecturers.
Of late it has been discovered that male lecturers in universities sometimes demand sex from female students in exchange for better grades.
Chairperson for NCHE, Beatrice Mtimuni, said the policy will help to involve all stakeholders in taking part towards the development of higher education in the country, adding that the council will see to it that the policy is being fully implemented.
“Launching the policy is just the beginning. We will work hard to ensure that female students are well protected,” she said.
United Nations representative in the country, Maria Jose Torres, asked universities in the country to make use of the policy so that boys and girls have equal opportunities when pursuing their studies in both public and private universities.
Guest of Honour at the launch, Honourable Patricia Kaliati who is also Minister of Gender, said universities were vital for the development of the country and therefore they had a role to protect both male and female students.
“We cannot allow lecturers to be harassing our female students. They are parents who are supposed to take good care of our children. Such lecturers should be exposed because that is detrimental to the country’s development,” explained Kaliati.
The National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) was established in 2010 to monitor performance of the county’s universities.
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