The government will continue increasing funding for the education sector to meet growing needs as Tanzania implements a new education curriculum, Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba told Parliament on Thursday.
Dr. Nchemba said the government recognizes that improving the quality of education requires increased investment in schools, teachers and learning facilities.
“As we move forward with the new education curriculum, we will continue improving the education budget because the needs keep increasing to ensure that every child studies well,” he said.
The Prime Minister made the remarks in Parliament in Dodoma while responding to a question from Agnesta Lambert Kaiza, Member of Parliament for Segerea, during the Prime Minister’s Question Time session.
Ms Kaiza had sought clarification on the government’s position regarding the growing concern over informal contributions imposed on parents in some public schools.
Dr. Nchemba said the government has no objection to contributions related to school meals, which help support students’ nutrition while learning. However, he stressed that any other form of contribution must strictly follow government procedures and receive approval from Regional Commissioners.
He cited an example from a recent visit to Katavi Region, where a parent complained that her child had been denied admission to secondary school for failing to pay Sh50,000 for a desk.
“I directed that the child be returned to school immediately, and I commend the Regional Commissioner who later confirmed that the student has already resumed classes,” he said.
The Prime Minister added that he also instructed disciplinary authorities to question the school headmaster after it was revealed that the student had stayed out of school for two months due to the illegal requirement.
“It is unacceptable for a child to miss studies for two months while those responsible continue with their duties as if nothing has happened,” he said.
Despite such challenges, Dr. Nchemba praised teachers across the country for their dedication to ensuring that students receive quality education.
“We all recognize that many teachers have shown great commitment in difficult circumstances. Despite large numbers of students and shortages of teachers in some areas, they have continued working hard to complete the syllabus so that our children receive quality education,” he said.
On the issue of volunteer teachers serving in some schools, the Prime Minister said the government had already directed that their payments should come from the internal revenues of local government authorities instead of parents’ contributions.
“The idea of volunteer teachers is a good one. Even when we were students, we received extra lessons from such teachers. However, their payments should not come from parents’ contributions. Local government authorities should use their internal revenues instead,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said the government will also strengthen monitoring and evaluation units across ministries to improve supervision of development projects and public service delivery.
He made the remarks while responding to a question from Isack Joseph Copriano, Member of Parliament for Monduli, who wanted to know the government’s strategy to improve monitoring systems in order to address citizens’ concerns more quickly.
Dr. Nchemba said the government plans to increase the budgets allocated to monitoring and evaluation units in each ministry so that they can effectively oversee the implementation of government programmes and projects.
To strengthen communication between citizens and the government, he added that authorities have established a national call centre with the number 190, where citizens can report complaints and follow up on responses.
In addition, the government plans to revive a system requiring leaders to maintain registers in their offices to record and track citizens’ concerns.
Under the arrangement, leaders will be required to submit monthly reports detailing the number of citizens served, the issues raised and how those concerns were resolved.
“The process of receiving citizens’ complaints should not only happen during official visits. Every month, leaders will be required to report how many citizens they have served and how the issues raised have been addressed,” he said.
He stressed that the goal is to ensure leaders take greater responsibility in responding to public concerns.
“We want to restore a culture where every leader carries the responsibility of addressing citizens’ issues instead of leaving citizens to struggle in finding solutions,” the Prime Minister said.
