Govt elevates technical, agriculture schools’ role

Speaking here yesterday during the 35th anniversary of the death of then Prime Minister Edward Sokoine at the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), the Minister for Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training Prof Joyce Ndalichako said all these schools have been put to major renovation and supplied with modern equipment.

The minister used the occasion to direct the Commissioner for Education to ensure that the schools open next January as technical and agricultural science institutions.

“The government has decided to restore the schools to produce more technicians and agriculture experts to help build an industrial economy,” she said.

The revival plan issue came up as the minister was answering a question on   when the institutions’ former strength in the subjects would be restored after years of neglect. This was vital to boost the country’s aspiration to become an industrial economy, an academic participant had emphasized.

“For us to achieve our aspiration of becoming an industrial economy and maintain that status, we must produce more experts in technical and agricultural science education,” Prof Ndalichako affirmed.

The minister did not name the beneficiary institutions but hitherto popular technical secondary schools include Ifunda in Iringa region, Tanga, Moshi, Mtwara, Musoma in Mara region and Iyunga in Mbeya region.

On the other hand, the big name agricultural science secondary schools included Ruvu in Coast region, Kibiti in Lindi region, Ifakara in Morogoro region along with Kilosa, and Kantalamba in Rukwa region.

These institutions reigned as to technical and agricultural science subjects in the country from the 1960s through the 80s and early 90s when they began to fade out.

Students will obtain free technical and agricultural skills following renovation and equipping of the schools as ordinary level secondary education in government schools has no fees component.

Tanzania's 2014 Education and Training policy, officially launched in February 2015, declared 10 years of free and compulsory basic education: six years of primary education and four years of lower secondary education.

In actual fact it is 11 years of free education, with seven years in primary school and four years to ordinary level secondary school, observers noted.