PINDA UNVEILS TEAM TO PROBE EXAMS FIASCO

By Sylivester Ernest, The Citizen Reporter
 

Dare esSalaam. Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda yesterday unveiled a 15-member team he appointed last week to find out why students who sat for last year’s Form Four national examination failed massively.

The team is made up of members from institutions involved in education matters and the parliamentary Social Services Committee from both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar. The commission will be chaired by executive secretary of the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU), Prof Sifuni Mchome.

Other members of the team, which starts work immediately, include Special Seats MP Bernadetha Mushashu, who will be vice chairman, Appointed MP James Mbatia and Kibiti MP Abdul Marombwa.

Others are Prof Mwajabu Possi from the University of Dar es Salaam, Ms Honoratha Chitanda from the Tanzania Teachers Union (TTU), Ms Daina Matemu from the Tanzania Heads of Secondary Schools Association (Tahossa) and Mr Mahmoud Mringo, who represents the Tanzania Association of Managers and Owners of Non-governmental School/Colleges (Tamongsco).

On the list of members also are, Mr Rakhesh Rajani from Twaweza - an NGO which facilitates large-scale and citizen-driven change, Mr Peter Maduki, Mr Nurdin Mohamed and Mr Suleiman Hemed Khamis from the Zanzibar House of Representatives. Others are Mr Abdalla Hemed Mohamed, Mr Mabrouk Jabu Makame and Mr Kizito Lawa.

The PM tasked the team to find a lasting solution to the alarming decline in the quality of education and poor examination performance from 2010 to date.

Speaking in a meeting that was also attended by the minister for Education and Vocational Training, Dr Shukuru Kawambwa, the PM said, that the problem of poor results, contrary to most people’s views, was not affecting government owned schools only, but also those owned by private organisations and religious institutions, including seminaries.

“I went through available data and learnt that since 2005, when the Fourth Phase government assumed power, to 2009, most schools did very well…things started going wrong in 2010 through 2012,” he said.

According to Mr Pinda, Terms of Reference (ToR) for the commission that has been given six weeks to complete its work and submit a report; will be to look into the reasons for poor performance in examinations.

Another ToR is to find out why the rate of poor performance has been increasing, how the education system operates at the district level, and whether transfer of education operations from the ministry to local governments contributed to poor results.

The team will also have to see whether the country’s education curricula are up-to-date and whether the measurement system is appropriate.

The team has also been tasked to find out if current teaching environments and teaching methods contribute to poor performance.

The Citizen: Sunday, 03 March 2013 01:13