PUTTING EDUCATION FIRST: State vows more funding

RUVUMA: PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has said the government will continue to invest in the education sector by building infrastructure, increase educational opportunities, and address existing challenges as the number of school increases.

She said that the government will solve the teacher shortage in line with the increasing number of schools around the nation.

“Our top priority is improving the well-being of our citizens through infrastructure and services that improve health, education, and other social services, and we will continue to prioritise investing in these areas,” President Samia said.

Speaking after inaugurating the Namtumbo Girls’ School in Ruvuma region that is named after her, she said the construction of the school reflects the government wanting to make a difference, as seen on the T-shirt worn by a young man who sang a special song in the event, which reads ‘The difference is wanting to make a difference’.

“These schools want to empower girls to pursue careers in science.

We are preparing you to enter these sectors in large numbers since there is nothing a girl cannot achieve because women participate in science to a minimal extent,” said President Samia.

She added, “I am glad to learn that the school cooks using clean energy.

This is a project I have taken on for African women, many of whom die or get sick as a result of cooking with firewood.”

To guarantee that the clean cooking concept goes widely, she said that they began with organisations that serve more than 100 individuals.

“I am confident that you girls, seeing how food is cooked using gas and how it tastes, will carry this knowledge wherever you go.”

President Samia urged the girls in the school to make the most of the educational opportunities they have been given, adding she does not want to hear that the school carrying her name has children scoring Division four or zero.

Regarding technological growth, she stated that the school includes an ICT lab because the world is heading towards artificial intelligence and people are no longer using pens and paper.

They will still be utilised, just not as frequently.

She encouraged all of the females to become skilled in using these tools.

“I want to tell you a secret: all the answers are online, whether on Google, Ask All, or ChatGPT” she said.

President Samia also urged teachers to care for the students by teaching them the value of education, health, and self-awareness.

“Let them know they are women and understand the roles of women, but also realise that a woman is a human being like any other, capable of achieving her dreams.”

In the education sector in the Ruvuma region, she said 16 primary schools and 14 secondary schools were built last year alone.

She added that to date, Ruvuma has 860 primary schools, of which 815 are government-owned, and 247 secondary schools, of which 187 are government-owned.

This shows that both the government and the private sector have embraced the opportunity for education.

The government continues to implement the free education policy, providing 14.5bn/- to the region for that purpose.

Minister of State in the President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government Authorities, Mohamed Mchengerwa said the school is called Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan.

It is one of the 26 girls’ science schools in the country under the Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQUIP) project.

ALSO READ: New zeal for minerals sector; Samia demands action to misinformation

“This school is 100 per cent complete, costing approximately 4.6bn/-, with all 22 buildings finished.

The uniqueness of these schools is that some of the buildings cannot be found in other schools,” he said.

Mr Mchengerwa added that across all 26 schools in the country, 4,843 students have already started classes, from Form I to Form 6.

These schools are specially designed for girls to pursue science subjects.

Speaking on behalf of the students, the President of the Student Government, Stella Magao, said that President Samia represents many women in the country, and many learn from her.

“We are grateful for the excellent school environment, and it also accommodates students with special needs. In terms of security and safety, everything is in good shape,” she said.

She added, “Despite the good things we have, we need a school bus.

If you help us, it will be beneficial in many ways.

We also request an increase in teachers as the number of students grows.”

At the end of the event President Samia pledged to bring them the school bus.