President Jakaya Kikwete (Left) listening Director of Operation National Housing Cooperation-NHC, Benedick Kilimba with stick brief about the resident map build at Mkinga Tanga District during the launching of cheapest house program for Public Servant. PHOTO|SALIM MOHAMED
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The President admitted that the government took the right decision in establishing ward secondary schools, but made a slight mistake by not stressing on the construction of school laboratories.
Tanga. President Jakaya Kikwete has breathed fire on all district leaders who take lightly the issue of school children dropping from school before completing their learning.
President Kikwete has given two weeks to district leaders countrywide to submit to him comprehensive reports through their regional commissioners (RCs) on what action they have been taking against parents whose children had dropped out of school before completing schooling.
He was speaking to leaders at the Regional Conference Hall after winding up his four-day tour of Tanga Region.
He observed that the country’s education endeavours have slackened tremendously in recent years because some people do not care about their children’s education.
“I have given you the district (pointing to Muhingo Rweyemamu, the DC for Handeni) ; you are supposed to be answerable for any issue in your district, not the DED or any other person,” said the President, who was vividly annoyed by some leaders who kept on heaping blames on others.
“It seems neither the district executive director nor the district commissioner is interested in visiting schools and ask for progress reports,” he fumed.
He directed all district commissioners and district executive directors countrywide to visit schools in their respective areas to discover whether the number of fresh entrants into schools were high or had dropped before completing their learning.
“I want you to take action, or tell me what action you have so far taken against all those responsible,” said the President.
The President admitted that the government took the right decision in establishing ward secondary schools, but made a slight mistake by not stressing on the construction of school laboratories.
He said because there were no laboratories, most of the students in secondary schools chose Arts subjects. “We have now more teachers in primary and secondary schools, than we used to have before embarking on the ward secondary schools project,” affirmed the President.
He said the problem now facing the country was the shortage of technicians and engineers. “We expect the project we have embarked on, of building school laboratories countrywide, will definitely resolve the problem,” asserted the President.
President Kikwete completed his Tanga Region tour on Saturday by calling on district councils to allocate land plots to financial institutions which have shown the desire to invest in housing estates.
He was referring to complaints from the National Housing Corporation who had requested the President to intervene in the issue of land plot allocation to them, promising that they were willing to expand their programme of building low cost-houses for workers countrywide provided they were given land a move aimed to dissolve the housing problem facing many workers in district councils.
