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Teachers see danger in new ward-level schools
2007-08-18 10:34:13
By Emmanuel Chacha, Mwanza
Secondary school heads in the Lake Victoria zone have said most ward-level secondary schools recently built by wananchi lack essential facilities and will lead to an appreciable deterioration in the quality of education in the country.
They have thus called on the government to pay serious attention to the matter by ensuring that the schools have enough qualified teachers, basic tools, equipment and facilities like classrooms, conference halls, staff rooms and well-stocked science laboratories and libraries.
The school heads made the remarks to that effect at the annual meeting of the zonal chapter of the Tanzania Heads of Secondary Schools Association (Tahossa), held here yesterday.
Laurent Mwita, the association’s chairperson in the zone, said there was every possibility that students in schools facing problems in laying their hands on enough qualified teachers and teaching facilities would have serious problems doing well academically.
He said in many of the schools the number of teachers was too little relative to that of students, leading to rampant overcrowding in classrooms and therefore lack of concentration by both teachers and students.
`We seriously urge the government to pay attention to these problems for the sake of our children’s future because there is no way we can improve our education or provide quality education without these essential facilities.
Building schools without making sure that essential needs are met is dangerous,` he noted.
Mwita explained that government schools also face daunting challenges and problems, among them the need to cope with a sharp rise in the number of Advanced Level students while there is no corresponding rise in the number of teachers or the availability of teaching materials, classrooms, and dormitories or hostels.
Elaborating, he said the government`s subsidy for food at its boarding schools was insufficient and there were times some suppliers threatened to strike over non-payment of their dues.
He warned that situations of that nature stood to end in chaos.
Acting Mwanza Regional Commissioner Samuel Kamote, who officiated at the meeting, said there has lately been an alarming drop in discipline in schools in the country and challenged the delegates to help stem the tide.
`Our schools have been generally experiencing a plunge in student discipline in recent years that has ended in a massive loss of school property. Some especially naughty students have even dared to engage in alcohol consumption and drug abuse, criminal actions that put a dent on society`s moral fibre,` he pointed out.
Kamote advised school managers and boards to emphasize religious teaching `because that is instrumental in solidifying the students` spiritual behaviour and general character`.
Schools should also appreciate the importance of school councils, he said, noting that doing so would give students a platform from which to air their grievances.
The government is implementing a special campaign to build secondary schools in every ward in order to absorb standard seven leavers who qualify for enrolment but have no school to go to.
It is also implementing a programme under which some Form Six leavers undergo a one-month teaching course and are then posted to needy secondary schools.
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