They hinted that over the years, the
country’s education system has gone through all kinds of ineffectual
transformations. Debating the Education, Science, Technology and
Vocational Training Ministry’s budget estimates for the 2016/2017, a
section of MPs attributed the poor education system to government
failure to put in place clear and permanent instruments to guide the
sector.
Mr James Mbatia (Vunjo-NCCR) affirmed
that education was the only sector in which a minister introduces
changes without consulting stakeholders and without measuring how
effective such changes are.
“The ministry lacks vision. Whoever
comes leads the sector as he or she wishes. Our education system is
horrifying,” the seemingly bitter lawmaker noted.
He affirmed that the ministry has even
failed to come up with clear teaching curriculums, creating discrepancy
in courses from one school to another. “We are not serious!
The whole sector of public education,
just like many other service sectors, is going through a serious and
saddening deterioration,” he asserted.
Armed with some imperfectly edited
primary school books, Mr Mbatia hinted that it was saddening to see that
even most of the books used in schools are poorly written and badly
edited.
Mr Philipo Mulugo (Songwe-CCM) noted
that there was an immediate and deliberate need for a concerted effort
to overhaul the whole system so that everyone who is involved reads from
the same page.
The former deputy minister of education
wondered why the government was unpredictable in education sector. He
advised that there be restructuring so that the country’s education
could be in tandem with the rest of the region.
With great concern, the MP affirmed that
he was dissatisfied with how the government was disappointingly
tackling the issue of running the sector head-on.
He also criticised the government’s move
to introduce indicative fee structure for private schools, saying that
the decision, if implemented, will completely ruin the education system
in the country.
The government recently outlined its
plan to set an indicative fee structure to be applied by all private
schools in a bid to make education accessible to all Tanzanians.
In the directive, the government barred
private schools from increasing fees until a new circular was issued to
guide them. Mr Mulugo’s sentiment was echoed by Mwibara MP on ruling CCM
ticket, Mr Kangi Lugola, who pointed out that introducing an indicative
fee structure was nothing other than frustrating private school owners.
He expounded that indicative fee
structure developed by the government does not take into consideration
their high cost of operations, and if was a thing to go by, will spark a
crisis.
Mr Jasson Rweikiza (Bukoba Rural-CCM)
affirmed that in order to ensure country’s education system becomes
relevant and result-oriented, sustainable mechanisms are to be put in
place to stem the rot that has accumulated over the years.
“There is need for a concerted effort to
patch up the whole system and come up with comprehensive, permanent and
feasible plans that would help the sector operate effectively,” he
noted.
Mr Mussa Mbarouk (Tanga Urban-CUF) was
dismayed by the fact that there were some graduates from local
universities leaving colleges incompetent and unemployable.
He pointed out that many of the
university graduates of today could not express themselves, have poor
command of language and seem to have thrown discipline to the dogs.
“Without doubt, this is the result of declining educational standards.
What needs to be done is nothing short of a complete overhaul of our education system,” he noted.
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