A whole
80 per cent of students in a Form Three class cannot read and write?
You will likely be inclined to say that is impossible, yet Arusha’s
Njiro Secondary School will easily prove you wrong.
And it will be none other than the headmistress affirming that 170 out of a class of 224 failed miserably last year’s national Form Two examinations chiefly because they cannot even write their names!
Probably as puzzled as anyone else would be under the circumstances, she would wonder just how the students concerned made it to secondary school in the first place.
She would also call for the government to rescind with immediate effect its recent decision to allow even Form Two examination failures to move on to Form Three.
Now, where does the problem lie? Is it with the students, their teachers, the learning/teaching environment or the education system in its entirety?
The school’s management talks of a serious shortage of desks and teachers for strategic subjects like mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and civics. Other problems cited include lack of a science laboratory, an administration block and teachers’ quarters.
Those following developments in Tanzania’s education sector closely enough know for a fact that Njiro is not alone in facing the problems it is facing.
However, neither does this mitigate the seriousness of the problems experienced nor should it serve as an excuse for any failure or reluctance to come to the school’s rescue because it surely portrays our country in unacceptably poor light.
We are told the school was inaugurated by President Jakaya Kikwete as recently as March 17, 2007, in itself a matter of some consequence.
Thus, irrespective of whether it is run by the government or some other owner, we find it hard to imagine how anyone could tolerate the mess the school is in.
We would therefore earnestly want to see the Education and Vocational Training ministry take measures as urgent and comprehensive as those it has taken in various other parts of the country to ensure that Njiro Secondary School either shapes up or folds.
We say this aware that the government’s magic has not always worked and that, even where it has worked, the outcome has not been all that homogeneous or all-embracing.
We also know that some of the problems plaguing the country’s education sector are so deep-rooted and complex that they cannot be solved that easily or that soon, partly because we are starved of the resources needed to help make that possible.
However, there surely is much we could do to effectively deal with problems like truancy, shortages of basic facilities, lack of concentration in class and pervasive indiscipline which could result in the kind of poor performance by students that has so vividly manifested itself at the hapless Arusha school.
Whether it is education for education’s sake or education for some specific purpose, Njiro is a horrendous case - a national shame. We must take remedial action on all such cases. And there is no reason for failure.
And it will be none other than the headmistress affirming that 170 out of a class of 224 failed miserably last year’s national Form Two examinations chiefly because they cannot even write their names!
Probably as puzzled as anyone else would be under the circumstances, she would wonder just how the students concerned made it to secondary school in the first place.
She would also call for the government to rescind with immediate effect its recent decision to allow even Form Two examination failures to move on to Form Three.
Now, where does the problem lie? Is it with the students, their teachers, the learning/teaching environment or the education system in its entirety?
The school’s management talks of a serious shortage of desks and teachers for strategic subjects like mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and civics. Other problems cited include lack of a science laboratory, an administration block and teachers’ quarters.
Those following developments in Tanzania’s education sector closely enough know for a fact that Njiro is not alone in facing the problems it is facing.
However, neither does this mitigate the seriousness of the problems experienced nor should it serve as an excuse for any failure or reluctance to come to the school’s rescue because it surely portrays our country in unacceptably poor light.
We are told the school was inaugurated by President Jakaya Kikwete as recently as March 17, 2007, in itself a matter of some consequence.
Thus, irrespective of whether it is run by the government or some other owner, we find it hard to imagine how anyone could tolerate the mess the school is in.
We would therefore earnestly want to see the Education and Vocational Training ministry take measures as urgent and comprehensive as those it has taken in various other parts of the country to ensure that Njiro Secondary School either shapes up or folds.
We say this aware that the government’s magic has not always worked and that, even where it has worked, the outcome has not been all that homogeneous or all-embracing.
We also know that some of the problems plaguing the country’s education sector are so deep-rooted and complex that they cannot be solved that easily or that soon, partly because we are starved of the resources needed to help make that possible.
However, there surely is much we could do to effectively deal with problems like truancy, shortages of basic facilities, lack of concentration in class and pervasive indiscipline which could result in the kind of poor performance by students that has so vividly manifested itself at the hapless Arusha school.
Whether it is education for education’s sake or education for some specific purpose, Njiro is a horrendous case - a national shame. We must take remedial action on all such cases. And there is no reason for failure.
No comments:
Post a Comment