Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE Social Welfare Committee of the House of Representatives urged the Zanzibar Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to ensure that only competent contractors are hired to execute its projects.
The committee said the move will help to avoid potential loss of money and strictly check shoddy work.
Speaking during the presentation session on the implementation of the Education Plan for the July-September 2021/2022 first quarter budget, at the Karume Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Ms Mwantatu Mbarak Khamis said screening of contractors before hiring them is important.
“We need to take extra precautions when tendering, to ensure we get the right contractors to minimize delays and cheating in construction projects,” she said.
Ms Khamis also urged the ministry to improve monitoring and evaluation during the construction.
“Seriousness is also required to encourage teachers to work harder with the aim of reducing failures in examinations.
“We still have a problem of many students performing poorly, parents and teachers should monitor students’ school attendance, as absenteeism may be attributed to poor performance,” Ms Khamis said.
The committee, however, commended the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training for good progress.
Minister for Education and Vocational Training Mr Simai Mohammed Said told the committee that his ministry has been moving on well with admirable revenue collection through new sources of income.
Mr Simai said the money collected has been spent on various programmes to strengthen the education sector.
However, she said despite the ministry’s efforts in improving revenue collection, it still faces budget constraints that lead to delays in the implementation of some of its responsibilities.
He mentioned other challenges such as students’ congestion in classrooms especially pre-primary and primary education, shortage of teachers especially in science and mathematics, shortage of learning and teaching materials, low use of technology in education caused by shortage of ICT equipment in schools, as well as shortage of laboratory assistants and librarians.
However, Mr Simai explained that the ministry has developed five projects aimed at ensuring that it achieves its goals, including the recent support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan, which will help major repairs to some schools, build teachers’ houses and toilets.
Principal Secretary (PS) of the docket, Mr Ali Khamis Juma promised the committee that it will implement all the directives required in accordance with the rules and regulations.
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