As the nation is shocked by the secondary school examination results which show 60.5 percent failure as announced earlier this week in Dar es Salaam, experts in educational matters have said that, if drastic measures are not taken by now, more candidates would face the same in the coming years. The Manager for Education working for Tanzania Education Authority (TEA) Juma Mkude said in an exclusive interview early this week in Dar es Salaam that, following mass failure, secondary school students are not to blame on the matter other than the government which has put low efforts to address the education policy in the country. He said that, the government should be blamed over the matter for a number of reasons and most of it all he said that it’s where it failed to create good conducive working environments for teachers who administers knowledge to their students. He said that, there are so many long standing unsolved problems facing secondary school teachers in the country and whenever such problems are addressed to the appropriate bodies concerned for urgent response, no any special attention is given. He outlined such issues like lack of teaching facilities, coupled by lack of laboratories and other incentives and lower salaries paid to teachers in the country resulting into low levels of work commitments, all these have greatly contributed to the mass failure of secondary school students in the country. Mkude who is in charge of higher learning institution at TEA cautions that, such failure is a great threat to higher learning institutions in the country as the secondary school education provides the main basis of the foundation for teachers at all levels of the learning curriculum. However, he noted that, the continued government’s negligence to take appropriate measures in order to rectify the situation is likely to cause detrimental effects to stakeholders and the nation at large. Another education stakeholder who spoke on condition of anonymity said that, students who have failed their exams are not to blame as teachers in the country who for long have been demanding for their rights but in vain seem to have despaired to work effectively for the betterment of the nation.
NCCR-Mageuzi Chairman and a nominated legislator James Mbatia speaking while insisting a point during a press conferenmce. Seated onm his left is Tundu Lisu unchallengable member of Parliament for Chadema opposition party.
He said for long Tanzania government has never weighed the problem of the education and give a special attention it deserves when it comes to teachers’ demands and other challenges facing the sector in general. Observations by this paper over the issue has discovered from few interviewed academicians in the education sector that, most of them have thrown a blame to the government saying that, the sector has been left behind since independence time. Head of education faculty of Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE) Dr. Kitila Mkumbo said that the decreasing trend of education in the country would deny the right choice of getting good teachers in future at higher learning institutions whose basis is established from the secondary school. He has however asked the government to give priority even in its budget sessions. However, he cited low salary scales which the government issues to the education personnel in the sector does not motivate them into committing an effective work schedules. Professor Yunus Mgaya of the University of Dar es Salaam commented on the bad results noting that is mainly due to lack of effective infrastructural facilities to smoothen the work such as insufficient professional teachers and lack of teaching facilities such as laboratories, learning materials such as books. Cornered for comments, a nominated legislator for NCCR-Mageuzi who is also the party’s chairman James Mbatia remarked during the interview with this paper that, the education system in the country is at ICU meaning that, it is in a critical condition that if the nation is not careful it might lose its values at any time. However, he uses the word ICU just to compare the education system in the country like a critical patient in an hospital who is put in an intensive care unit for closer monitoring or observation an aspect that if doctors would not be available closer to give a hand of help then such a patient might die at any time. Mbatia who had earlier this month moved a private motion in parliament demanding for a thorough scrutiny on the issue of education in the country and subsequently his ideas were not given attention , was angered and saw the futility of the government when his ideas were repudiated in parliament. An opposition leader in parliament and Chairman of Chadema party Freeman Mbowe, has called on the resignation of the Minister for Education and Vocational Training Dr. Shukuru Kawambwa over the matter noting that if he is stubborn then his party is going to stage a countrywide demonstration to pressurize his resignation. Mbowe is on the view of the fact that, the results announced early this week is a great shame to the nation and that, Tanzania has been ashamed with these results even before her fellow East African member states. Another expert noted that, the increased employment of teachers is not a solution to end the long standing woes, but rather the government should look at the basic incentives that would attract teaching profession in the country, just the same way as fellow Kenya and Uganda does.
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