UK lawmakers hail Tanzania’s achievements in girls’ education
What you need to know:
- They said it was a good sign for the country’s future development to learn that a good number of Tanzanian girl students are currently in high schools undertaking science subjects unlike many other countries in the world.
Dodoma. UK parliamentarians have hailed Tanzania for making a big step in educating girls in the country.
They said it was a good sign for the country’s future development to learn that a good number of Tanzanian girl students are currently in high schools undertaking science subjects unlike many other countries in the world.
Moreover, the parliamentarians expressed their satisfaction with the patriotic manner in which the government handles development funds from UK, particularly in ensuring it is spent on intended goals.
During their Wednesday’s tour of Bahi District to visit schools supported by the Department for International Development’s Education Quality Improvement Programme Tanzania (EQUIP-T), the lawmakers assured that the UK government will continue to inject funds into various development projects in Tanzania.
The lawmakers include Mr David Linden, Mr Henry Smith, Mr Lord Watts and Dr Roberta Blackman, and their visit was organised by RESULTS UK, a registered UK charity organization working on international development and global health issues.
“We have been impressed to see the way the government is succeeding to encourage young girls to stay in school, for example, in Dar es Salaam at a certain high school we witnessed many girls taking science subjects, which is a good move for the country’s future development,” Mr David Linden (MP for Glasgow East) told The Citizen in an exclusive interview.
Speaking to pupils and parents at Bahi-Makulu Primary School, a school under EQUIP-programme, Mr Henry Smith (MP for Crawley) appreciated the way the programme has helped the pupils to grasp key skills, including language skills.
School’s headmistress Mwamini Uvilla told the visitors that the programme has stimulated academic spirit among parents and children in the area, especially after the establishment of a School Readiness Centre (SRC) in Suguta Village, some seven kilometres away from her school.
“The centre has increased pupil enrolment because the programme enables children from deprived households to access pre-primary school education for free,” she revealed.
For her part, Bahi district commissioner Elizabeth Kitundu thanked the UK government for the support to improve the quality of education in her area of jurisdiction.
She revealed that the UK-sponsored programme has managed to establish 53 school readiness centres at different areas in the districts whereby many pupils are familiarised with school activities as well as learning language.
“The programme has also managed to improve Parent Teachers Partnership (TPP) and increase students’ performance. For example, by 2013 the district’s pass rate was 36.39 per cent but in 2016 the rate increased to at least 59.04 per cent,” she told the delegation of UK parliamentarians in her office.
