Private schools bag top slots in Standard 7 exams again

Dar es Salaam - As it has become a tradition in recent years, non-government schools bagged top slots in the Standard Seven Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) results, outshining government schools.The results, released by the National Examinations Council (Necta), shows that non-government owned schools registered a pass mark of 97.76 per cent as opposed to those owned by the government which recorded a 49.32 per cent pass rate.However, figures released recently from Necta also reveal that more than 12,000 pupils who sat the 2013 Standard Seven examinations were illiterate. The Tanzania Association of Managers and Owners of Non-government Schools and Colleges (Tamongsco) secretary general Benjamin Nkonya, said that keeping politics away from academics was among the key reasons for Private schools’ good performance.“We keep politics away from academics in the whole process of our school registration, management and administration. All schools are properly inspected and registered after fulfilling all requirements as per the Education Act Number 25 of 1978 and the education policy of 1995,” said Mr Nkonya.He said that all schools are registered after establishing all the required infrastructure, including one classroom for every 40 students, library, science laboratory, learning materials, furniture and one qualified teacher for every 30 students.“All non-government school owners and managers are customer-focused in their operations,” he said.