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 By Sylivester Ernest
The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. It has been an established tradition that schools are named after prominent leaders who have left their mark in the nation’s history. Woe betide you, however, when the performance of the school you have gifted your name is nothing to write home about—and this while you are still alive. What would you do if such an underperforming entity bore your name?
The tradition of naming institutions of learning after outstanding personalities picked up during the final years of the second phase government under retired President Ali Hassan Mwinyi. Today, it is almost impossible to find a school in any region in Tanzania that does not have a school named after a national icon and, especially, a politician.
And so it is that you will find Sumaye, Magufuli and Zakia Meghji secondary schools in Kagera Region. Mwalimu Nyerere, the founding father of the nation, is a favourite here too.
In Dar es Salaam, immediate former president Benjamin Mkapa and former CCM secretary general Yusuf Makamba are on the list of national leaders whose names dot public schools. President Jakaya Kikwete and Mama Salma Kikwete already have several institutions named after them.
Influential leaders and top politicians perceived as role models also consider it a matter of honour to have public institutions named after them. But what happens when such institutions lose favour and become the laughing stock in the same society that once valued you?
In such circumstances, says former Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye, the emphasis should not be on the names of the institutions as those named after them are not to blame. He told The Citizen on Saturday: “The thing should not be the name of the school…let’s put more effort into making sure we up the level of our education. There are a lot of problems in our public schools—lack of teachers, classrooms, books and so on. Let’s invest more.”
The ugly side of this naming culture was displayed this week when the Form Four national examination results were released and schools named after some public figures found themselves in the bottom half of the list.
One of the worst performers in the form four results is Dar es Salaam’s Yusuf Makamba Secondary School. It continues to record some of the worst “O” results nationally. In the 2010 exams, it posted what can only be described as dismal scores. Of 452 candidates who sat the exams, 314 students scored division 0, with just 25 students ranking between division I and III, which guarantee passage to high school.
This year’s results presented yet more humiliation for the school. Ranked among centres with 40 candidates or more, the school took position 1,481 out of 3,108 with only one student getting division I and seven getting division II. Eighteen scored division III and 139 got division IV. Of the 350 candidates, 185 failed. But the former CCM secretary general does not fare too badly when compared to Ali Hassan Mwinyi Islamic Secondary School in Tabora. The school came in at position 1,655. with 130 candidates. Of the 129 eventual candidates, there are no division I and division II. Only four candidates managed division III while 60 have to contend with division IV. The other 60 came away empty handed.
Then you have Benjamin William Mkapa High School. Though it had 19 and 39 division one and two respectively, the school has 189 candidates who scored division IV while those who failed altogether number 137.
Jakaya Kikwete Secondary School did not do justice to the big name. It had no division I and scored just one division II, four division III and 54 division IV. Those who scored zero number 39. In total, it presented 98 candidates. It clearly does not matter whose name a school brandishes when it comes to performance. Independent commentators say it is a matter of urgency that the nation debates the quality of education it is subjecting future generations to.
“Generally, a name doesn’t reflect on the results, though it would be an embarrassment to the holder,” says Rakesh Rajani, a former executive director of HakiElimu, an NGO that works to realise equity, quality, human rights and democracy in education by helping communities transform schools and influence policy.
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