According to the survey only 25 per cent of pupils have access to libraries.
What you need to know:
About 60 per cent others failed to grasp even frequently used words, while 90 per cent had difficulties in understanding their alphabets, a survey carried out by the World Vision, a Christian Church-aligned non-governmental organisation, indicated.
Karatu. Only 53 Standard Four pupils tested in three primary schools in Karatu district, Arusha Region, recently can read and write properly, it was revealed last week.
About 60 per cent others failed to grasp even frequently used words, while 90 per cent had difficulties in understanding their alphabets, a survey carried out by the World Vision, a Christian Church-aligned non-governmental organisation, indicated.
The survey covered 162 pupils at Mbuga Nyakundu, Mbuyuni, Mang’ola and Dumbechand primary schools in Eyasi Division on the shores of Lake Eyasi under the World Vision’s ‘Dreams Village’ , which focussed on three Rs -- reading, writing and arithmetics, the basic subjects in primary education.
Presenting the findings to education stakeholders here, the project manager, Mr John Massenza, said appropriate strategies needed to be taken to improve the quality of teaching in primary schools.
He said the survey extended to the family backgrounds of the pupils and found out that a combination of factors contributed to the poor performance of pupils in lessons, adding that only 25 per cent had access to library services.
A total of 162 pupils, with an equal number of boys and girls, were tested. It was further found out that the learning environment in the four schools was generally not conducive for learning because in the absence of library services, the majority of pupils could not borrow books to read at home.
Moreover, only 66 per cent of them had gone through the pre-school education, constraining their capacity to grasp lessons properly and in the early stage.
Much as most of the pupils stayed away from the schools, long distances contributed to their low performance.
Because of the long distance from school, the parents preferred sending only boys to schools because, they could withstand difficulties endured during the long journeys to and from the schools than girls.
Speaking on the findings, the Karatu district council director, Mr Moses Mabula, called on local leaders to mobilise wananchi to send their children to school and urged parents to ensure they did not withdraw their kids from the education institutions.
He specifically challenged the school committees for their failure to foster good relations with their village governments. He wondered why some schools had shortage of desks for their pupils despite Sh80 million allocated for the furniture in their budget each year.
The district official added that the local authorities had recently recruited 32 teachers to serve marginalised communities within the Lake Eyasi basin.
On his part, the chairman of the district council, Mr Jubilet Mnyenye, said plans were underway to construct hostels in primary and secondary schools located in areas inhabited by nomadic pastoralists.
