TANZANIA: ELEVATION of education standards requires collaborative efforts between the government and private sector in order to be guaranteed an opportunity of reaching the entire country at ease.
This is because, through working together, it becomes possible to prioritise on quality education that learners need for the sake of keeping pace with the current dynamic world.
It is true that the advancement of science and technology is bringing a lot of changes in education sector meaning that key players in it should always be awake ready to embrace these transformations as long as they are inevitable.
In Tanzania, a lot of investment is being done to elevate education systems with government taking the front seat while enjoying maximum support from different stakeholders that operate in education industry.
These stakeholders always assist the state in various ways like construction of school infrastructures, provision of learning materials to needy students, ensuring that teaching materials are readily available and many things. For instance, some schools have inadequate classrooms or toilet blocks due to the increase in number of the learners and here is where some private institutions dive in to support government.
Definitely, a school environment which has all the learning and teaching infrastructures is destined to produce productive people with potential to help in facilitating national development.
They say education is key to success due to the fact that it gives one the much-needed confidence to open doors that initially seemed impossible to pass through them simply because of the self-confidence that comes through education.
There are certain doors that can only be accessed by those who have acquired education hence the reason people are not afraid to spend much for the purpose of getting the priceless key in life (education).
Upon realising how crucial the education sector is, the Tanzania Education Network (TenMet) recently organised the 4th International Quality Education Conference (IQEC) that brought under one roof different stakeholders in education to brainstorm on how to upgrade this sector.
The conference was held at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre (JNICC) in Dar es Salaam with more than 350 participants drawn from within and outside the country taking part. CAMFED Tanzania were among the attendees of the conference as they too play a crucial role in shaping up the country’s education through a number of interventions that they undertake.
It is crystal clear that their acknowledgeable works they perform in education industry earned them an opportunity to be part of this year’s IQEC and had an opportunity to share with the public on what they do.
In her remarks, CAMFED Tanzania Director of Programmes and Partnerships Ms Anna Sawaki revealed that they work abreast with the government in making sure that quality education is accessed by every child in the country.
“We mainly support girl students who come from underprivileged families with necessities that enables them to pursue education at ease so that they can realise their future targets. “We have been doing this for over 16 years and until now, we have supported 5,090 secondary school students and at university level, those doing certificate, diploma and degrees, in collaboration with the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB), we have reached out to over 5000 girl students.
“This year, we are going to offer scholarships to 655 girl students so that they can learn comfortably while fully focusing on their education… we are doing all these specifically to provide them with a bright future,” she says.
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She continued: “We have also found out that in order for girls to shine in their studies, they do not only require material or financial support but also, to equip them with self-confidence capable to face-off challenges that come their way. “
As such, we also render life skills lessons to girl students which is critical for them to do well in their studies and become productive citizens in near future ready to drive further the economy of our country.
“We are taking part in this year’s IQEC because we are among the active members of TenMet and we closely work alongside them in finding out amicable ways on how to upgrade education standards in the country. “What we normally do is to champion for inclusive education so that no child should be left behind in accessing education bearing the fact that education is the right of every child.
“So, we are here to deliberate with our colleagues including government itself on what we can collectively do to eliminate challenges that affect education not only in our country but in Africa as a whole. “As CAMFED Tanzania, we do have several programes aimed at supporting procedures of elevating this important sector and we do provide essential materials.
“For instance, girl students who walk to and from school are provided with exercise books, shoes, sanitary pads as well as books… all these enables them to learn at ease,” she says.
According to her, those who live at hostels, they help them to get comfortable accommodation services and pocket money to be used to purchase their own needs.
“Those who are heading to university, we provide them with scholarships and their faculty needs so that they can fully concentrate on their studies…we get these needy students through our direct cooperation with government.
“The good thing is that our government has conducive measures that help to identity girl students who come from underprivileged families and we adopt that system in ensuring that the type of support we offer is getting in the right hands,” Sawaki says.
Concerning the re-entry education policy introduced by the government, she pointed out that still, some teen mothers opt to drop out of school due to financial constraints they encounter.
“Not all of them manage to proceed with education after giving birth because they fail to handle two things at once and the main reason is because of limited financial access. “In this scenario, we encourage the community and families to take up the responsibilities by helping beneficiaries of re-entry policy through offering required support to them so that they can proceed with their education without problems,” she says.
Indeed, remarkable works by CAMFED Tanzania and other stakeholders in promoting education levels cannot be underestimated…they deserve full backing in order to effectively execute their responsibilities
