May 2010
By Elias Mhegera
The Education Sector
BRIEFING me on the education sector in Mbeya urban was the ‘Friend of Education’, Aggrey Kandonga, who is working hand in hand with key players in that sector.
His campaign seeks to ensure that schoolgirl pregnancies are put a stop to, and every child given an opportunity to attend school, moreover he is striving to do away with drop-outs by supporting those in need.
Brief autobiographical notes
Kandonga was born in Mbeya on 1964 and has worked throughout his life in Mbeya urban, after receiving primary education at Majengo Primary School, 1974-80.
He subsequently went on to Sangu Secondary School, 1980-84 for ‘O’ levels and 1985-87 for ‘A’ levels. He never went in for tertiary education.
Subsequently, due to the fact that he had taken Economics, Commerce and Accounts, he got a job as an accounts clerk in a construction firm, and later in the same capacity at KAMA and CO, from 1995-97. The KAMA Company comprised authorized accountants and auditors.
He developed an interest in the training of young people while at the company, then when one key employee in the company passed away he turned to youthwork directly on a fulltime basis, his main activities being to make follow- ups in the education sector.
Education’s performance in Mbeya urban
Kandonga, who in 1997 was a founding member of the NGO named Mbeya Youth Development Organization (MYDO), has become fully involved in closely following up the education sector.
His NGO, which was fully registered in 1999, promoted him to chairman in 2003 after the constitution was changed. The constitution was amended again in 2005; he subsequently assumed the title of director.
Under its new constitution, the NGO formed a board where he is the secretary. Apart from his NGO activities he is involved in modern farming, currently he owns 20 pigs. Kandonga is married and the father of seven children; four girls and three boys.
His Role as Friend of Education
Kandonga, who joined the friends of education family in 2005, was attracted to this movement through wanting to see that children were not denied the opportunity of going to school.
His main activities therefore are monitoring, evaluation and advocacy on educational issues. Moreover he is involved in a campaign for ensuring that education is administered in a friendly environment.
Another line he pursues is ensuring that there are enough classrooms and houses for teachers. Further, he is involved in sensitizing and converting parents who do not see the value of education, and in persuading voluntary organizations to assist children from less fortunate families to get proper support for their school attendance.
Moreover he is committed to visiting such pupils and students frequently, to check if they are getting the required services. For that matter he has got involved in the provision of textbooks, pens and other educational materials to his proteges.
He has been following up the implementation of educational policies in primary and secondary schools. The follow-up means liaising with school committees. His activities include monitoring if the heads of schools are following procedures, i.e. engaging the school boards in the running of their establishments.
He admonishes parents to make follow-ups of their children’s development. This is through feedback from decisions passed by school boards. He has been involved in many such activities in Mbeya urban and rural.
Mobilization strategies
He has mobilized other members of the society to join in with his efforts; he has succeeded in attracting the cooperation of a number of women, who appear to be easily interested in community work. So far his group is made up of seven people, four women and three men, who are actively involved as friends of education.
His long term vision in the education sector
He visualizes that the self-reliance aspect should be strengthened, because currently the world has changed, there is more interaction, which needs to make Tanzanians get themselves prepared. They should be prepared for self-employment as well as for stiff competition in the job market.
Therefore, he advises the government to inculcate the spirit of self-employment, through special programmes that are designed to promote it, thence to inspire the vocational abilities of the youngsters, or in other words to help them to find out what it is they want to do in life..
His unique activities and experiences
He has the learnt the art of attracting people to join in community activities, the fact is a good number of villagers and town-dwellers are reluctant to participate in such projects, so he has used different tactics, for example he can get at people through their religion; he belongs to the Roman Catholic Church.
He also has manipulated assistance from educational officers who feel they have a stake in his activities. Moreover, some parents with their kids still at school have seen the importance of supporting his efforts.
On establishing a library
He has facilitated the distribution of brochures dealing with civic education, gender issues, human rights etc. As per this survey the publications (brochures) are mainly from HakiElimu, TGNP, Policy Forum, LHRC and the Foundation for Civil Society.
So far he has galvanized a community group under the umbrella of his NGO-MYDO, whereby in the initial stages 600 people have participated in community work, including discussions on civic matters.
However with the passing of time he has learnt that a good number of those were expecting to get payment from such activities, but when they realized no funds were forthcoming they gave up their commitment on the spot.
The group has conducted 13 sessions in civic education with Baraka FM, a community radio that belongs to the Moravian Church. He admits that his group is not strong, because it is very difficult to coordinate such groups in the face of poor commitment from members. However he has been attending the radio sessions accompanied by two members from his group, and so the trio joined a radio show as part of a panel of four people.
Their main discussions on the radio are centred on advocacy regarding pertinent issues, supplying brochures whenever they get them in abundance, conducting public discussion by responding to phone calls during the discussions. The group once received funds from the British donor institution IFAD, to facilitate the smooth running of their activities.
His successes as a friend of education
His active involvement has attracted support from parents who find that educating their children is a matter of necessity. He has stimulated the follow-up spirit in schools.
A good number of schools now store data and records which can easily be accessed by whoever needs them for follow-up or research purposes. Parents have been consulted on many issues, likewise the Tanzania Teachers Union has been consulted by him and other friends of education on several occasions.
Main challenges
Some education officers and teachers are bureaucratic and uncooperative; they do not want to be monitored as they consider that as being beneath their dignity. He at times faces resistance from such officials to the extent of hampering and delaying his activities.
Commitment from community members is not guaranteed, as some members tend to respond during group activity but ultimately they do not show up. At times he has to chase somebody up three times before they make an appearance. There is a lack of strong leadership, due to poor commitment. He also admits that a good number of community members consider educational matters too technical for them.
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