PPF pays school fees for to up to four children when its member dies. (File photo)
On realizing this important aspect of life, the Parastatal Pensions Fund (PPF) introduced an education benefit package for its members in 2003.
In the course of time, the scheme has all along continued to be of benefit to the entire community in Tanzania.
Education benefit is granted to children of a fund member who dies while in service with at least 36 months contributing period or more.
Such children, who should not exceed four, are entitled to free education from nursery to ordinary secondary school level.
The education benefit granted by the fund has confirmed that there is security in children’s education should a member die while the children are still schooling.
At the just ended first Tanga International Trade Fair, organized by the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (TCCIA) in collaboration with Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TANTRADE), hundreds of Tanga residents and its peripherals, were delighted to be informed of the education benefit offered by the fund as well as modern technologies available at PPF.
The awareness, provided by fund officers at the PPF pavilion, convinced many workers who were not members of the fund to register with the fund right away.
PPF Kinondoni Zonal Manager, Zahra Kayugwa says “The education benefit includes payment of school fees, purchase of school uniforms, stationeries, transport and food depending on salary status of the deceased member.”
Initially, says Kayungwa, the fund paid school fees for three children. Today a total of 1,333 pupils have benefited from the package where a sum of 682.9m/- has been paid out during 2012.
The pupils come from 765 schools from both the mainland and Zanzibar, 315 primary and 450 secondary schools.
Kayugwa says PPF decided to come up with the education scheme considering that some administrators appointed to take care of the deceased’s children had their own priorities instead of the expected roles.
Meanwhile, Kayugwa says in view of technological development, PPF has invested in various information technology in order to deliver efficient and prompt services wherever it is intended.
Such services are, according to Kayugwa, PPF information technology where a member can easily access data with regard to their membership, contributions and pension among others through their mobile phone by sending a text message to number 15553 also by registering on PPF’s website, www.ppftz.org.
PPF’s focus is to extend its various services nearest to wherever the wananchi live all over of the country in order to satisfy the needs of its members. Already, PPF has eight zones and six branches in the country.
Talking on the turnout at the fund’s pavilion, Kayugwa says scores of people had visited them to seek information about the fund where several dozens of them made up their minds to join the fund.
“Some of them wanted to know their contribution status and their membership”, asserts Kayugwa, saying even retired members went there to verify their records.
“PPF has advantages for everybody, including providing service to those in the public and private sectors”, according to PPF Operations guide. These include small scale farmers, entrepreneurs etc.
Noticing that population increase was a matter worth considering, PPF has an ongoing scheme to build low cost housing in Mwanza for its members as well as selling such units to the general public.
A total of 580 units have so far been built and sold out. More houses shall be built in other regions in future.
PPF was the first entity to extend affordable loans to its members through SACCOS at work places in 2004. Under this arrangement, tremendous record has been made in that a total of 55bn/- has been dished out to 41 SACCOS.
Such loans have enabled members to excel in life, through venturing in various activities, including agriculture, poultry keeping, animal husbandry and many others.
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