MPs point routes to improve education
MEMBERS of the Parliament have asked the government to put more emphasis on tertiary colleges and higher education learning institutions for the country to have sufficient and competent human resources in multiple sectors of production.
They also called for the need to recruit more teachers and improve learning infrastructure in a bid to improve academic performance of students in public schools.
The Parliamentarians made the remarks yesterday when debating a 1.7tri/- budget estimate for the Ministry of Education Science and Technology for the financial year 2023/24 that was tabled in the house on Tuesday by Minister, Prof Adolf Mkenda.
A parliamentarian for Kilosa constituency in CCM ticket Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, apart from commending the government on various initiatives taken to improve education, stressed on the need to invest heavily on Folk Development Colleges (FDCs) and Adult Education.
He said it is high time for the government to include the FDCs and Adult Education in the education policy, noting that the move would help in equipping Tanzanians with various skills for their own development.
“The government has to consider building the FDCs in all wards in the country to accommodate those students who didn’t pass their primary and secondary school education for them to be taught programmes that aren’t available in other learning institutions,” he said.
Prof Kabudi said establishment of FDCs across the country will also offer solutions for the current need on various curriculums that are missing in vocations training institutes.
Eng Leonard Chamuriho (nominated MP) asked the government to put in place a proper mechanism that will enable the country to have a sufficient number of experts in rare professions.
The lawmaker suggested the need for higher education learning institutions to analyse the areas of specialisation that are in high demand so that the government can chip in.
“Moreover the government has to allow higher education learning institutions to continue making their own teaching staff without any interference from the authorities,” he said.
His comments were in line with the observation by Moshi Rural MP Prof Patrick Ndakidemi (CCM), who expressed the need for the government to continue investing highly on universities and colleges by ensuring availability of competent and qualified staff members.
He also asked the higher education learning institutions to ensure their members publish their academic papers in the reputable international journals.
“This will help to market Tanzania’s higher education learning institutions at international level as well as upgrading their ranking hence playing a crucial role in marketing Tanzania’s education abroad,” he urged.
For their part, Mwita Waitara Tarime Rural (CCM) and Special Seats MP Husna Sekiboko (CCM) emphasized on the importance of recruiting more teachers for primary and secondary schools given the current shortage especially in rural areas.
They were concerned about the uneven academic performance between students in public and primary schools, citing insufficiency of teachers as the reason behind the disparity.
“Our public schools in both rural and urban areas need competent and qualified teachers, the government should also create a good learning environment through improvement of infrastructure,” said Mr Waitara.
His views were seconded by Ms Sekiboko who asked the government to consider employing teachers on contract terms while waiting for the procedures of hiring them on permanent and pensionable terms.
She was of the view that providing temporary employment will guarantee a sufficient number of teachers in all schools hence boost performance of students in their final exams.
“There is a shortage of about 300,000 teachers for both primary and secondary schools, we thank the government for announcing new employment but the number is still far from the actual demand,” she said.
Tabling the budget estimates on Tuesday, Prof Mkenda, informed the Parliament on five key priorities that will be implemented by the ministry in the coming fiscal year.
Among the priorities includes strengthening the country’s capacity in research and use of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) to speed up the envisaged industrial economy.
According to him, the government is also expecting to complete the review of the Education and Training Policy 2014 and the education curriculum as well as kick off its implementation.
“The ministry plans to increase opportunities and education quality for vocational training in secondary schools and vocational training colleges, increasing opportunity and quality education in primary, secondary and higher learning institutions,” he said.
In the key priority areas, Prof Mkenda said that the government’s major aim was to increase the quality of education, help Tanzanian youth to acquire knowledge, skills, confidence as well as ability to be employed or employ them.
