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Orders to close down shoddy Dar schools ignored
2006-09-23 09:00:43
By Pastory Nguvu
A number of Dar es Salaam schools that had been put on notice to meet minimum sanitary and human resource requirements have not fulfilled the conditions and are still in operation.
A spot-check in some schools, most of them in Kinondoni Municipal Council, found out that the schools had failed to meet the deadline for registration.
In June, the municipality issued a list of primary and secondary schools that were adjudged to be substandard following a series of inspections by municipal authorities.
The owners of those schools were consequently served with notice to close down their institutions.
Some schools The Guardian visited still lack basic amenities such as classrooms, toilets, libraries and desks. The managers have rented apartments in which students are taught. They were therefore, operating in rented apartments.
St Daniel Secondary School at Ubungo-Msewe, off Morogoro Road, is one of the schools that were to be closed. Although the school’s infrastructure was found to be substandard, it still operates with 41 students and three permanent teachers.
The headmaster of the school, Pantaleo Kagina, admitted the school did have not a certificate as it had not been registered.
”Since we started the school in 2003,we have been applying for a registration to no avail.
The Kinondoni Municipal Council authorities told us it was not possible to be registered because we lacked basic amenities such as classrooms and a playground. We still operate in a rented building,” he said.
After failing to get certification, he said, the school decided to enrol more students as efforts were being made to register it.
He said students enrolled in the school sit for national examinations in registered centres such as the Institute of Adult Education and Zanaki Secondary School.
Reached for comment, Kinondoni Municipal Education Officer Dionice Boay confirmed by telephone that St Daniel Secondary School was illegally operating.
Boay said his office had already served the school with a notice to close down.
The officer also said there were many such schools in Dar es Salaam that had already been served with notices to close down or apply for registration after meeting basic conditions.
”Many owners whose schools are lined up for closure are stubborn because they still enrol and conduct classes, despite receiving orders to shut down. However, we plan to enforce the orders in December,” he said.
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