The government of Tanzania has pledged to continue improving primary and secondary education curriculum to impart students with entrepreneurship, finance management and life skills to make graduates able to create own employments.

The improvements will enable Tanzanian students to cope with the current technological changes and adopt the ongoing political, economic and social changes.

Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Omari Kipanga gave the assurance during an interactive session in Parliament.

Special Seats legislator, Ngwasi Kamani (CCM) during questioning, highlighted the need for the government to introduce entrepreneurship studies, finance management and life skills as an alternative way of solving unemployment challenge.

She added that the subjects should compulsory for all the students.

Deputy Minister Kipanga however clarified that currently, students are taught entrepreneurship through other various subjects.

He said primary school pupils get the knowledge through different topics in the subjects of Mathematics, Social Studies and Vocational Studies while secondary school students are imparted with such skills through Civics and General Studies.

He said there are also some elements of entrepreneurship contained in secondary school students through various subjects, such as Book-Keeping, Commerce, Economics, Accountancy, Home Economics, Mathematics and Agriculture, adding that emphasis was put on life skills and vocational trainings.

He said students are also capacitated on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

According to Kipanga, the government has been organizing different forums to discuss a number of issues related to improvement of the curriculums.

He said such forums had already been conducted in Dar es Salaam and Dodoma regions, saying that the curriculum review process is expected to be completed this financial year.

Meanwhile, Education, Science and Technology Minister, Prof Joyce Ndalichako said plans were underway to ensure all schools provide life skills training, such as needlework and cookery, adding that the two subjects are now taught in a few secondary schools.

Zamfara state government has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew after about 73 students of a day secondary school were abducted by bandits forcing the state to shut down all schools.

The students, some of whom were writing their mock examinations, were abducted at Kaya Government Day Secondary School in Maradun on Wednesday afternoon.

The school’s vice-principal, Zayyanu Tsaba, was among those kidnapped.

The school authorities said more than 300 students were on the premises at the time of the attack.

Some of them ran when the bandits struck, escaping into nearby farmlands.

The latest incident comes exactly a week after another group of abducted students and staff from the College of Agriculture and Animal Science in Zamfara regained their freed.

The state governor Bello Matawalle has announced the closure of all schools and imposed a curfew from 6pm to 6am in 13 local government areas and 8pm to 6am in Gusau, the state capital.

State police commissioner Ayuba Elkana said officers have been deployed to work with the military to search for and rescue the victims.

The latest wave of abductions in Zamfara follows new stringent policies by governments of adjoining northwest states to cut the supply of essential commodities to bandits operating from forests.

This, along with a rise in attacks from the military, has made the bandits more desperate.

According to Unicef, more than 1,000 children have been abducted by Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria since 2013, including 276 girls taken from their secondary school in the town of Chibok in 2014.

Unicef stressed that attacks on students and schools are not only reprehensible but a gross violation of the right to education.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says most of the problems associated with Nigeria’s education sector is the responsibility of state governments.

The vice president said this in Abuja when he declared open a two-day national dialogue on girls with the theme “National Dialogue on Girls: Towards a girl-friendly Nigeria”.

The forum was jointly organized by the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), Women Arise for Change Initiative and the Africa-Wide Movement for Children (AMC).

The vice president who identified social and cultural prejudices as some of the critical problems militating against the girl child in Nigeria, said despite efforts by the Federal government to curtail the menace, states and local governments also have a role to play.

He admonished victims of child abuse not to take it as the end of life, adding that examples abound of such victims that have shrugged it off to make it in life.

The vice president urged states yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act, CRA, and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act to do so.

In her opening remarks, Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Pauline Tallen, described the dialogue as a clarion call on government as well as well-meaning individuals to support the girl child.

She said despite the milestones already reached, the girl child still faces a lot of challenges such as early marriage, rape and other forms of child abuse.

She added that government is in collaboration with UNICEF in many of these regards.

The president, Women Arise, Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, highlighted the persistent challenges still facing Nigerian girls adding that the Chibok and Dapchi girls abductions experience were eye-openers to the peculiar dangers that the girl child faces in Nigeria.

On her part, the Executive Director, African Child Policy Forum (ACPF), Dr Joan Nyanyuki, said it was important to recognize that despite concerted efforts, the challenges are fast outpacing current efforts, hence the need to redouble efforts.

She called on Government to scale up its efforts to address the problems affecting the girl child which she identified as protection from violence and harmful practices; provision of basic services; and participation in the resolution of issues that affect them.

Nearly 4 000 extra teachers in Zimbabwe have been hired for Government schools, with 2 935 starting duty on Monday, the first day of the new term.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education published a list of 3 816 teachers recruited into the public service to serve across the range from Early Childhood Development (ECD) to Advanced Level in all provinces.

The new teachers will report to district offices in their provinces for deployment.

The ministry’s spokesperson Taungana Ndoro said the Government had made tremendous efforts to recruit almost 4 000 teachers to press ahead with quality education, needed even more now that so many teaching days were lost to lockdowns.

The ministry was grateful for the funds provided by Treasury and wanted to hire even more teachers once Treasury releases more funds.

Ndoro said the ministry was still looking for an additional 65 technical and A-Level teachers who have specialised in technical subjects and are highly qualified to provide effective and quality education.

He said those with master’s degrees were also suitable for the posts as the ministry was looking for highly qualified personnel who can deliver quality work.

Ndoro advised the teachers, including the newly recruited, to take their jobs seriously.

Most teachers countrywide reported for duty on Monday as examination classes comprising Grade 7, Form 4 and Form 6 resumed face-to-face lessons at Government and private schools.

Most boarders returned to their schools on Sunday although a few checked in early Monday morning.

At both urban and rural schools, most pupils in the three classes reported for lessons.

The Government has trained over 63 percent of teachers in standard operating procedures, and there are plans to train support staff, such as food handlers and bus crews.