JK to set up commission for student loans review
Dodoma. President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday promised to form a special commission to review the entire system used for issuing loans to students of higher education and the management of the Higher Education Student Loan Board (HESLB).
Mr Kikwete said the commission would be formed and become operational by January next year and that he would direct it to collect views of higher learning institution owners, lecturers and students to obtain a whole rounded advice.
President Kikwete made his maiden promise since he kicked off his second term in office after officially inaugurating the University of Dodoma (UDOM), the would-be largest university in the country, which was
President Kikwete
constructed during Mr Kikwete’s first term.
“I want to assure parents and students that we well continue to increase funds for higher learning students to benefit from the loans. We did so in the past five years and we will do the same in the future,” he told hundreds of students packed in Chimwaga Hall.
“The government has increased the student loans fund from Sh56.1 billion in 2006/06 to Sh237 billion this financial year. The number of students, who benefit from the loans, has also increased from 16,345 to 69,921. This is a good achievement and I promise you that we will strive to reach as many students as posible,” he said, adding;
“The ministry of Education and Vocational Training will explain at length on the formation of the commission, which will review the issuance of loans and the management of the board.”
This will apparently be the first assignment of the minister-elect for Education and Vocational Training, Dr Shukuru Kawambwa, after he is sworn in tomorrow.
The President’s promise comes in the wake of uproar among the majority of higher learning students, who complained of missing loans from the Higher Education Student Loans Board (HESLB).
Mr Kikwete hailed UDOM for realising his dream and called on the management of the university to take care of it.
Meanwhile, the President called on the management of private higher learning institution to revisit fees imposed on students to enable many low income earning Tanzanians to acquire higher learning education.
Mr Kikwete said the government would in its part continue to expand existing higher learning institution and establish new ones to cope with the growing demand of secondary students to continue with higher education.
“Private universities should ensure they construct new building premises for the institution instead of upgrading secondary school premises alone. We are ready to provide them with sufficient land whenever they need,” he said.
President Kikwete ruled out that there would be no short cut in achieving the ongoing national poverty reduction drive, but to invest in education as the developed countries did.
He pleaded with the Vice President, Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal, to continue teaching physics at the university, as his profession lacked sufficient tutors in the country.
“As I said during my inaugural speech in Parliament, we will construct new residential buildings at Mloganzila on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam for Muhimbili University to expand its enrolment of medical students,” he said.
Mr Kikwete explained that 76 per cent of students qualified for pursuing medical studies could not be enrolled due to lack of lack of space in the local medical higher learning institutions.
This, he said, retarded the effort to move from the 30,000-patient to one medical doctor ratio to at least 1,000-patient to one medical doctor.
The UDOM Chancellor, former President Benjamin Mkapa, assured Mr Kikwete that the management of the university would continue with the construction of new building premises to ensure the university attain the envisaged international status and the goal of enrolling 40,000 students by 2015.
Mr Mkapa showered pensions funds, financial institutions and other stakeholders with praise for supporting the successful establishment of the university, which currently accommodates about 20,000 students.
The UDOM vice chancellor, Professor Idris Kikula, said 1,279 had graduated for the first time this year.
UDOM is the brain child of President Kikwete, who said he had hatched the plan while striving to translate the 2005 Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) manifesto, which emphasised on expanding higher education.
The President extended his gratitude to the US based Microsoft and IBM for accepting his request for supporting the construction of the School of Information Technology at UDOM, which would be one of the best IT learning institutions on the continent.
“Continue cementing ties with these friends of ours and with other higher learning institutions in the world as well,” he pleaded with the UDOM management.
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