School desks to be used in performance ratings

Dar es Salaam.Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has said.

PERFORMANCE of government leaders at various levels would be assessed based on how they implement orders of the government towards easing shortage of desks in primary and secondary schools in the country,

 Speaking after taking part in a charity walk to raise funds for school desks in Dar es Salaam, the PM  directed the government officials including education officers and head- teachers in both primary and secondary schools in the country to ensure that funds which are raised are spent on the required purpose.

He made the statements in Dar es Salaam yesterday when addressing the public, workers and the management of Bank of Tanzania (BoT) shortly after he took part in a sponsored walk organised by the bank to raise funds for purchase of desks in the country.

The charity walk is part of the bank’s activities to mark its 50 years’ Anniversary.

“The government had issued orders to regional commissions, district commissioners and directors in all the municipal councils to make sure that the crisis of desks in our secondary and primary schools comes to an end,” he said.

In another development, Mr Majaliwa ordered each council to use the available resources to manufacture school desks to ease the shortage of desks in their respective areas.

He also directed all the councils to use the timbers collected through illegal transportation in the central government districts and villages to manufacture desks in order to get rid of the shortage in their respective areas.

“The councils should use all the available resources; including using seized timber to manufacture desks instead of auctioning it. The nation faces a crisis in our schools,” he said and directed the districts to set up a long-term strategy to get rid of the crisis.

According to the premier, primary and secondary schools in the country is facing a shortage of over 3,000,000 desks with primary schools having a shortage of 2,800,000 while 200,000 desks are needed in secondary schools.

On the other hand, the premier received a total of 263.1m/- raised by BoT workers and the management to supplement the government’s effort towards the purchase of desks.

He highly commended the Bank Governor Prof Beno Ndulu and the bank’s employees for the donation, expressing the need for other institutions in the public and private sectors to develop the spirit of supporting education.

Earlier, Prof Ndulu told the premier that the bank raised a total of 273.1m/- with the bank’s management contributing 167m/- as a corporate social responsibility (CSR), the workers contributed 29.8m/- and 54m/- was raised by telecommunication companies and 22m/- by other financial institutions.

“The the bank employees voluntarily contributed the funds in order to lend their support in tackling the shortage of desks in several regions. The regions include Mtwara, Dodoma, Arusha , Zanzibar, Mwanza and Dar es Salaam,” he noted.

Prof Ndulu assured the premier that BoT will continue to support the government’s efforts in the development of quality education through various plans including the corporate social responsibility of the institution, the Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Scholarship Fund and Gilman Rutihinda Memorial Fund.