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| Kagera Region |
Bukoba
— KAGERA Regional Commissioner (RC) Fabian Massawe, has urged residents in the
region to utilise to the maximum information technology (IT), to hasten
development.
He stressed the
need to invest in science and technology, urging the residents to motivate more
students to learn science subjects, including giving incentives to those
students who excel in science subjects.
Mr. Massawe made
the call on Wednesday while opening a four day training workshop being attended
by over 60 science teachers at Katoke Lweru Secondary School, in Muleba
district. Katoke Lweru computer laboratory has 25 new computers, printers and
data projector will open a world of knowledge to students and the wider community.
The
computers will assist the students in all areas of the curriculum by learning
through current software, he said. Professor Alan Watson, revealed that the
school, which was established in 2008 by the Anglican Diocese of Lweru, has a
380 day and boarding students.
He said an
Australian-based Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) had established the Katoke
Trust (KT) with aim to strengthen Tanzanian education. He said the Katoke Lweru
computer laboratory was established with assistance from the Archbishop of the
Anglican Church in Sydney, Australia, at a cost of 170,000 US Dollars.
Mr. Massawe
thanked the Australian government and communities for the generous donation
calling upon other donors to emulate the example. He said information
technology was very crucial in the development of the nation. He said out of
the population of 43 million people in Tanzania, about 4.8 million had access
to the internet, compared to Australia where 99 per cent of population has
access to the internet.
He
further noted that out of the 4.8 million people who access internet, five per
cent get the service through internet cafes, 55 per cent depend on public
institutions while 40 per cent get the service through their homes. Mr. Massawe
said more efforts should be made to lower prices of computers to enable more
people to buy the software and efforts should be directed on training teachers
with computer knowledge.
Kagera region had
a total of 239 Secondary schools, out of which 204 were government owned while
35 others were private. Due to limited resources and manpower, only 12
secondary schools offer computer classes.
By Meddy Mulisa
Daily News -Tanzania