Does the Provision of Higher Education Students’ Loans in Tanzania Enhance Women Empowerment and Gender Equality?

Abstract

Gender equity and Women empowerment are the key factors in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that is to say the achievements of MDGS is depending on how other goals addresses the gender based constraints.

This study is aiming at assessing on whether the higher education students’ loans provision in Tanzania is supporting the MDGs on Women Empowerment and Gender Equality through addressing the following objectives: (i) to examine the number of women enrollment in higher learning institutions in year 2011/2012 -  2014/2015 (ii) to determine the number of women who were given students’ loans in year 2011/2012 -  2014/2015   (iii) to examine on how the gender equality and women empowerement has been covered within the loan provision policies.

According to the analyzed data the study concluded that Women enrollment in higher learning institutions (HLIs) and the women students who were given students’ loans has been increasing for 4 years consecutively (2011/2012 – 2014/2015). It was further concluded that gender-factor is not designed/captured in the loans issuance formula during Means Testing (MT) and the students’ loans provision policy at large. The study recommended that HESLB policy and the Means Testing formula to include gender equality and women empowerment factor, University enrollment policy to continue giving priority to women hence facilitation of more female attendance to higher education to enhance women empowerment and gender equality through attainment of higher education.

Keywords: Women empowerment, gender equality, Higher education students’ loans Board (HESLB), Loans issuance, MDGs, Students’ loans.