Speaking at a rally in Chalinze, a small town in the eastern region of Pwani, President Magufuli chastised NGOs in Tanzania for encouraging teenage mothers to go back to school, stating that they were "finishing the country" and leading to a state of "moral decay" in Tanzania: 
Akiongea katika mkutano wa hadhara huko Chalinze, mji mdogo Mashariki ya Pwani, Rais Magufuli aliyakemea mashirika yasiyo ya kiserikali Tanzania kwa harakati zao za kutaka wasichana wanaopata mimba katika umri mdogo kuendelea na masomo baada ya uzazi: Akikiri kwamba kitendo hiki kinaliangamiza taifa na kuchangia mmomonyoko wa maadili