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Kinondoni Mayor Yusuph Mwenda
Two municipalities in Dar es Salaam face an acute shortage of desks for primary and secondary schools, leaving thousands of pupils stranded, retarding their development.
In an interview with this paper, Kinondoni Mayor Yusuph Mwenda admitted that the shortage of desks in his area is too high.
Kinondoni municipality has 1.8 million residents, more than any of the three municipalities of Dar es Salaam, others being Temeke and Ilala.
“This population obviously means that number of children attending school is also very high, hence the requirement of desks will also be high,” he said.
Mwenda explained that there are over 23,000 primary schools in Kinondoni, meaning that the demand for desks is very high.
He said the shortage of desks in these schools is already high and when secondary schools will be built as planned, the deficit will be even higher.
He added that to solve the problem the municipality is looking for sponsors from in and out of the country. He said the central government should also chip in and allocate sufficient funds in its budget.
Ilala Municipal Mayor Jerry Silaa said his area has shortage of 86, 242 desks a problem he believes can be solved if members of the public, the private sector and individuals cooperate to make meet the demand.
He said in efforts to solve the shortage in primary and secondary schools in Ilala Municipality about 98b/- is required by the end of the financial year 2013/14.
Silaa said the target is to furnish about 105 primary schools and 49 secondary schools in Ilala with desks. At the moment there are only 28,018 and 27,737 desks for the schools, respectively.
He said: “I request individuals, companies, parastatals, private organisations and the public at large to donate desks and support this campaign wholeheartedly.
He said behind every successful nation there is an educated populace. In order to create conducive learning environments for Tanzanian children and the country’s future, schools should have necessary furniture, desks being among them.
According to him, this year’s annual Mayor’s Ball will focus on making sure that students in Ilala Municipality have desks in their classrooms and use them.
“With support from various organizations and the public in general, we surely can make this vision a reality. I firmly believe that the public can make significant changes to solve challenges that we face,” said Silaa.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
