Kawambwa asks councils to help students get certificates

Dodoma. The minister for Education and Vocational Training, Dr Shukuru Kawambwa, has directed local government authorities to help pupils and students from poor families who cannot pay examination fees.

The minister said in Parliament that the students from poor families whose examination results were being held by National Examination Council of Tanzania (Necta) should be helped to access their results.

In the 2013 Form Four examination results that were released on February 21, 31,518 out of 404,083 candidates who sat for the national examination did not get their results after they failed to pay examination fees. Dr Kawambwa was responding to a question by Ms Kuruthum Mchuchuli (Special Seats-CUF) who sought to know the number of students who were yet to have their results released for failing to pay fees.

Ms Mchuchuli further accused district commissioners and other local government officials for harassing parents who had no money to pay examination fees.

“These parents are poor and they cannot afford to pay the fees but there have been some heatless officials who have been taking these parents to police stations and courts,’’ she insisted in her supplementary question.

According to her, the students whose results were being held by Necta failed to proceed with their education and other courses and that the government should look for measures to help the desperate students.