Elections 2010 CHADEMA's Free Education Promise not a Hoax, a long awaited Response

[Kiranga]

Mimi tatizo langu, kama nilivyowahi kusema kabla, si kwamba haiwezekani, tatizo langu ni kwamba, is it economic? Is it the best use of our resources kuwasomesha hata watu wanaoweza kujilipia gharama zao kwa kuwapa elimu ya bure?

 

[Emmanuel Tayari]

Response to DEUS VALENTINE in Support to my Orginal Posting : Is CHADEMA'S EDUCATION PLAN A HOAX?

by Emmanuel Tayari on Monday, September 20, 2010 at 5:40am

Thank you for your well articulate response, despite of what you have written I am still standing firm from what I have written on my previous article which can be viewed full at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&&note_id=147821785254349#!/note.php?note_id=146908465345681


Public services must be financed by someone, whether the taxpayer or the consumer of services through direct fee for service and I simply believe we shouldn’t give free service to people who can afford paying for them , and that why if you read well my article without distortion you will understand what I’m for; and I say it again, I am for partial free education just in rural areas, so on this debate you should first understand how we differ in ideology , if you take it from so called human right perspective , I would allow you to name me whatever you want but I don’t subscribe to your ideology in this matter.
On substance arguments and the allegation you have raised ; Iam rejecting your accusations as follows;
Firstly : As far as conditionality is concerned you don’t live in the world of reality and you may need to refresh your mind with what actual happening on ground when it comes to the subject matter.
A good example of how things have not changed in term of conditionality, is the 2005 IMF Policy Support Instrument (PSI). Though PSI, IMF provides economic policy advice to a country, and then monitors it to determine whether or not the country has earned the IMF’s endorsement. Creditors and donors can then base their decision to offer loans or grants to a country based on the IMF’s PSI assessment, in nutshell this has been a key overrider of Paris Declaration . In practice, this program continues to enforce IMF economic reforms and compromise the ability of Tanzania to decide its own development path e.g free education o . And since 2007 Tanzania has being part of Policy Support Instrument (PSI) which means it is under conditions and it has to comply , so when you see them guys at Mirambo street , remember they are very powerful in deciding the polices issues of Tanzania. And in short they push for cut in social spending on health, education, and other public services and not only that but they have advised the government to keep wage levels low, therefore my question for CHADEMA n was legitimate and .

Moreover, To see how conditionality is still a big negotiating tools for donors countries you can visit weak leaks and download the leaked document which shows how the EU used the threat to "reprogram development aid" if developing countries do not agree to sign a new free trade agreement with the EU (so called EPAs).EU aid depends on trade threat plan in trade talks 2007(http://wikileaks.org/wiki/EU_aid_depends_on_trade_threat_plan_in_trade_talks_2007)
The way forward is financial independent and in reality we have a long way to achieve it if the current trend continues


On your accusation that”I have not provided statistics that prove that the government would have to spend 35% of the annual budget to invest in education”, again it just highlight your lack of research before you responded to this posting.I wonder if you have read the CHADEMA Education policy; but for your information and since you have raised the issue , the 35% figure is CHADEMA Owns projections. Which is posted on CHADEMA website;
”Serikali ya CHADEMA itafanyaje ili kuboresha Elimu ya Tanzania?”
http://www.chadema.or.tz/nyaraka/sera/elimu.php
”Itatenga kwa sekta ya Elimu na Elimu ya Uraia asilimia 35% ya bajeti yote ya Serikali – italenga kuboresha mazingira ya elimu, ya ufundishaji na uboreshaji wa maslahi ya Waalimu na kuweka mazingira mazuri kwa wanafunzi wenye ulemavu kupata elimu bila vikwazo”

As I have mentioned my source above, I think you have to rework your figures and comes with new numbers which will reflect CHADEMA spending commitment
Lastly, me and you we share the same vision of the country, we want a better country , but myself I don’t believe in welfare state especially for poor countries , that why if you read my previous writing i Have always believed that Tanzania needs a powerful new economic narrative that will push the discussion and the development agenda around a new and we can’t move from economic constraints to economic possibilities if we won’t ask the people who has mainly based in town to pay for more .
One of the best ways to achieve economic revolution is to change our investment priorities by making our economic growth pro-poor, and because the poor live mostly in rural areas and generally depend on the agricultural sector for their income, growth that stems from agricultural productivity and that raises the incomes of small-scale farmers is particularly important in reducing poverty. Furthermore for successful Economic Revolution in Tanzania to happen I believe we need to invest more in rural areas, most of our development policies have under invested in rural areas and if you read well my article that is what I have tried to emphasize . My proposal for achieving this is always for the government to cut 50 percent of the budget allocated to districts which are located in urban areas and spend more money from saving accumulated from the cut to improve the basic services in rural areas and that why I believe the free education should be only partial provided to people in rural and people in Towns should pay.

 

[Kiranga]

Offering free education is based on one of the core values of the nation - EQUALITY. If anything, providing free education is an important instrument in ensuring that all children are treated as equals regardless of their financial backgrounds.There is no evidence to suggest that free education creates inequality in society if anything it does the total opposite. I am sure even with provision of free education the well-to-do will still go to private schools which can prove an important source of tax revenue in form of an education cess. Additionally it would allow parents to prepare their children for college by establishing for their children college funds.

This argument is inherently shortchanging the poor by predicating a blanket utopian equality, which in reality is not equality at all. If you don't have a level playing field and you insist on blanket equality, what will end up happenning is a system that will penalize the poor at the benefit of the rich.

You can't say giving a millionaire's child and a peasant's child the same access to a system is equality, this will actually promote more inequality.

 

[Chesty]

This argument is inherently shortchanging the poor by predicating a blanket utopian equality, which in reality is not equality at all. If you don't have a level playing field and you insist on blanket equality, what will end up happenning is a system that will penalize the poor at the benefit of the rich.

You can't say giving a millionaire's child and a peasant's child the same access to a system is equality, this will actually promote more inequality.

In which ways would this promote inequality...could you please explain.

 

[Ndachuwa]

Mheshimiwa Mwanakijiji, kuongezea kwenye majibu ya hoja, Mawaziri wakipungua toka 47 mpaka 20 tutaokoa gharama za
- Mishahara ya mawaziri 27;
- Personal Secretray 27;
- Running costs za VX 27;
- Divers' salaries siyo chini 27;
- Kodi za nyumba za mawaziri 27;
- Mishahara ya makatibu wakuu 27;
- Nyumba za makatibu wakuu 27;
- Personal secretary wa makatibu wakuu 27
Ni pesa nyingi sana itaokolewa kama Watanzania Tutaamua kuziokoa

 

[Abdulhalim]

To be fair, hata CUF wameahidi hili la elimu bure mpaka F6 kama sikosei..lakini it is obvious Bw.Tayari yu tayari kwelikweli ku-contradict the best opponents to incumbency kwa sababu anazozijua yeye mwenyewe. He is really motivated!

IMO, suala la elimu as a subset of the so called social services, si suala la kuahidi kabla hujajua source yako ya ku-finance hiyo kitu. Ktk kipindi hii ya kampeni it is far fetch kwa kweli IMO. A shot not made from cross-haired target. Chadema wangeuza sera ya jinsi watakavyo ongeza mapato ya serikali, achilia mbali ile ya kusema watabana matumizi..kubana matumizi is not necessarily good for the economy.

Wajifunze ahadi zilizgonga mwamba za Dr. Mkwere, mojawapo ni ile aliyoitoa baada ya kuapishwa mwezi Nov 2005 kama sikosei kwamba bei ya umeme haitopanda, lakini by January 2006 Tanesco walishafanya vituzz vyao zamaani..

They shouldn't follow this trails of comedy

 

[Rugemeleza]

i have read the response by Emmanuel Tayari and for sure i think what he is trying to push is a neo-liberal ideology that states everyone for him or herself and God for us all!. I was fortunate to receive a free primary education at a primary school, High School and the University (Dar). My parents paid for my secondary education because i was not selected to join form one. In 1992 we had a big fight with Mwinyi, who had, in 1990, sent us home for the whole year when we demanded quality education. in 1992 we opposed cost-sharing once again the govt response was to send some of us home and also expel, for life, our leaders. The government then, and as it is now, argued that the country could not afford paying for the tertiary education. During the University of Dar es Salaam Senate Meeting that year, i told the Professors and Drs. including Profs. Luhanga, Mkude and Mlama that this did not make sense as they, themselves, had received free education and why they supported denying us the same? Of course i was blaming the wrong people as Mwinyi and his ministers had decided to teach us a lesson! I reminded Mr. Kinana when the two of us were here at Harvard, studying our masters degree in 1996-7, of all these and especially the amount of resources that our colleagues invest in their children. I asked him was it wise to send us home for one year because of demand for $20? He had no answer and given what i am hearing him say an do he has no answer even today.

Back to the point. The argument then was that free education was expensive and was crippling the economy. After all it was not important for everyone to be educated who was going to take care of our streets, roads and farms? Thus making a education a privilege of the few was very important and ensure that you have many uneducated people. As it is written in the Arabian Nights Wajinga ndio waliwao or ignorance is bliss! For sure the govt was, as it is, under the World Bank and IMF leash and was compelled to implement those dictates. Our government without any critical debate and discussion deprived the children of its own people the right to free education.

Surprise, surprise when the two IFIs came under serious attack on their operations in Africa and other parts of the world, they started arguing that primary education should be made free! Isn't it what Tanzania ,under the "wasting government" of its founder had done? No, this was the appropriate time to do so? Our government followed and we heard and saw all sorts of efforts to make it happen! Then when our Kenyan colleagues, in 2002, initiated free education up to the secondary school level, which was not opposed by the two IFIs, our government jumped into the bandwagon and introduced shule za kata!

But how did the western countries achieve their current level of development? The answer, is simple massive investment in public education. Here in America the GI Bill changed the lives of many Americans. It gave opportunities to children from poor families who had served their country inthe Second World War to pursue college education. All of a sudden those poor families lives changed into middle class. In America education is free from grade one to 12? You have an option to pursue private education, though. What about Norway which was at the turn of 20th Century the poorest country in Europe? Free education was key. What about UK? Free education was the answer? What about Botswana which in 1966 was the third poorest nation in the world? Good use of its mineral wealth and massive investment in education was and is the answer.

For those who don't know Botswana does not only give free education to its children up to the university level but it also provides scholarship to its students to study abroad. Those who are in Malaysia can attest to this fact as their more than 2,000 Botswana students studying there under government scholarship. The same is true here in America. I have studied and met Botswana students under government scholarship, here at Harvard and Yale. They are all-over the place. Their government demands of them to pursue graduate studies.

I mentioned Malaysia above but this deserves more explanation. At the time of its independence it was a deemed to be a God-forsaken place and people saw as very lazy and good for nothing. But when Maathir Mohamed took over in 1982 he changed it forever he committed massive resources into education. He sent many of its students abroad. At this point Malaysian students account for or about 23% of the tertiary education budget of the UK. And when the British government wanted to impose onerous visa conditions on Malaysian, as they do to us, Maathir said Malaysia will stop sending students to the UK. The British retreated. Malaysia now is a different country from what it was in the 1950s and 1970s. All because of massive commitment to free education.

i have given all these examples to show that investing in education is not a wastage of resources but rather its production. We should not be cheated by people who follow the dictates of poverty purveyors like the IMF and the World Bank. We must decide to tell them to go to hell! Even Kenya under Moi told them so. Did Kenya collapse? Nope? At this time we have many allies in the developed world who will stand-up with us when we come with good policies that seek to advance our peoples welfare. Those people can help us show the hypocrisy of the Bank and IMF.
Digressing a bit Zambia has canceled all mining agreements with mining companies? What was the Bank's reaction? It supported Zambia's move even though it was the one that was behind those agreements. Thus when we are advancing our peoples interests we stand better a chance of changing the economic discourse and also regain our sovereignty. It is for these reasons that I seen Mr. Tayari's argument unpersuasive and influenced by the neo-liberal thinking discredited for advancing the interests of IFIs and their patrons and perpetrating squalor to millions of people. I hope he will awake from his slumber and appreciate the fact that our people and children deserve a free and quality education. The most important debate for me is how can we make it happen?

 

[Keykey]

My Take:
This is what I would call "hoja hujibiwa kwa hoja"... Now, somebody else need to tell us why it is impossible to provide free education up to A Level.

It won't be possible because Chadema are unlikely to make the next government. Tujifunze kutokana na chaguzi za 1995, 2000 na 2005 huko Zanzibar ambapo CUF walikaribia kuunda serikali lakini hawakupewa nafasi hiyo, sina uhakika kama Chadema wamezingatia hilo?

 

[Kitila Mkumbo]

CCM wana hulka na uzoefu wa kukataa mambo mazuri kwa watu wake. Waliwahi kukataa kufuta kodi ya kichwa. Walikataa kufuta ada za shule ya msingi, na leo wanakataa kufuta ada katika shule za sekondari. Elimu bure kwa shule za sekondari sio tu kwamba ni muhimu, lakini pia ni lazima kama tunataka kujenga taifa lenye watu wanawajibika na wanaoweza kuwajibisha viongozi wao, na hicho ndicho CCM wanachopinga. Tukatae.

 

[Kiranga]

In which ways would this promote inequality...could you please explain.

If at all these schools are successful and provide quality education, the limited resources devoted to this cause would attract even children from families with financial abilities to enroll in more expensive private schools. What this will mean ultimately is that, in a world of fixed and limited resources, any one chance snatched by the well off will mean one chance less for the people who cannot afford to pay. Instead of a convergence towards equality, the reverse will happen, with the haves having easier access to better education while some of the have nots (whose options are next to none) finding their chances taken by the haves (whose options are galore)

I suppose one could argue in a very academic way that, if at all the government is successful in creating adequate chances for all of our national needs, then in theory you would eliminate this shortage which may impact the have nots more than it will the haves. This is a very big if, so big so that giving the cause all the liberty one could afford and assuming a smoother than average performance, the transition to a full capacity enabled system will take at least a decade, a decade of peasants farmers not having enough schools simply because other people who can afford to pay for their education in these government schools or elsewhere are not doing so.

The only reason the haves would not enroll in these schools is if the schools do not provide a quality education. Not a good look.
And if the schools do provide a quality education, then they will attract people who do not need the government to pay for their education. Not a good look.

A poor country like ours must exhibit the most deliberate tendencies towards a sturdy frugality. The government should not pay for the education of any person who can afford to pay his/her way.

Promoting this unnecessary welfare handout from the nanny state far from creating equality, will actually leave more room for inequity than can reasonably be allowed.

 

[Ujengelele]

Elimu bure inawezekana kabisa kama mishahara ya wabunge itapunguzwa sana, kuachana na gharama za kifisadi ndani ya Ikulu na mawizarani.

 

[TingTing]

Mimi naamini ya kuwa elimu ya bure inawezekana kama tukiweka nguvu zote katika kuboresha huduma hii. Sioni ni kwa nini wengi wetu tunakuja na akili kuwa haiwezekani badala ya kutafuta njia za kufanikisha zoezi ili. Elimu ya bure inawezekana tatizo kama tutawekeza kwenye hiyo sekta husika vizuri na kwa ufasaha. Tuna maliasili nyingi sana nchini, madini ya kutosha tu kwa sasa sema rushwa, ufisadi na gharama za kulazimisha ndio zinatuangamiza sisi wananchi wote. Kwanza nusu ya hela hii ya kutoa elimu ya bure inaweza patikana kutoka kwenye upunguzo wa baraza la mawaziri na wizara. Kuna wizara nyingine wala hazina umuhimu na ulazima wa kuwepo kwani vitu vinaweza kujiendesha vyenyewe iwapo sheria madhubuti itawekwa na kusimamiwa imara. Wabunge 300+ kwa Tanzania nao ni wengi mno kwa nchi ndogo kama yetu, nayo ikipunguzwa idadi tutakuwa tumesave hela nyingi tu na kuweka kuwekeza kwenye elimu na kuweka uboresho. Watu huwa hawasemi haiwezekani bali utafuta njia ya kutatua lengo au nia husika ili kufanikisha hilo lisilo wezekana.

 

[Ujengelele]

A poor country like ours must exhibit the most deliberate tendencies towards a sturdy frugality. The government should not pay for the education of any person who can afford to pay his/her way.

Tanzania is not a poor country. We have so many natural resources (Gold, diamond, uranium, tanzanet, gas etc) and I am very surprised by your notion that our country is a poor country.

 

[Abdulhalim]

Tanzania is not a poor country. We have so many natural resources (Gold, diamond, uranium, tanzanet, gas etc) and I am very surprised by your notion that our country is a poor country.

Pia kuna nchi tajiri tu za dunia ya kwanza na bado elimu ni bure.

 

[Rufiji]

Mimi nashindwa kuelewa watu wanaposema wanapopinga mpango wa CHADEMA wa kuinvest kwa watanzania through education, lakini watu hao walikuwa wakishangilia serikali iliponunua Jet ya Rais pamoja na Rada ! Mpango wa Chadema unawezekana kabisa kama ukiwa na viongozi wanaojali elimu!

 

[Nyani Ngabu]

Elimu bure kwa wote bila kubagua ni matumizi mazuri ya rasilimali zetu. Hata kidogo mtu huwezi kunishawishi kuwa eti hayo ni matumizi mabaya ya fedha (rasilimali).

 

[Jatropha]

a clincher!! Thx for the useful article mzee.
Ushauri wa bure kwa chadema & co....tengenezeni posters kubwa zenye ku-summarise mchanganuo wa kwenye article mziweke kwenye makutano makuu ya barabara nchi nzima ili watu wote wauone.
Will love to watch that look of embarrassment on kinana & co's faces watakapogundua uongo wao sasa umeanikwa barabarani!!

ili mawazo yako yaweze kutekeleza inabidi sote tuchangie gharama za kutengeneza mabango hayo, ndio gharama zenyewe za ukombozi wa pili wa tanzania

 

[Jatropha]

ccm wana hulka na uzoefu wa kukataa mambo mazuri kwa watu wake. Waliwahi kukataa kufuta kodi ya kichwa. Walikataa kufuta ada za shule ya msingi, na leo wanakataa kufuta ada katika shule za sekondari. Elimu bure kwa shule za sekondari sio tu kwamba ni muhimu, lakini pia ni lazima kama tunataka kujenga taifa lenye watu wanawajibika na wanaoweza kuwajibisha viongozi wao, na hicho ndicho ccm wanachopinga. Tukatae.

hebu tueleze ni namna gani hii taarifa itawafikia watanzania wengi kwa kutumia vyombo vya habari? Pia tueleze mabango ya dr slaa yako wapi? Msione aibu kuomba michango kwa nguvu, nobody is doing fund raising kufanikisha hayao mambo mawili. Naomba haya mambo mawili yasiwe ya chadema, tuyafanye sisi washabiki wa mabadiliko. Mkumbo tupatie bajeti ya kutekelza hii mipango makakati miwili fasta tuanze kuhamasisha michango!!!

 

[Jatropha]

response to deus valentine in support to my orginal posting : Is chadema's education plan a hoax?

by emmanuel tayari on monday, september 20, 2010 at 5:40am

thank you for your well articulate response, despite of what you have written i am still standing firm from what i have written on my previous article which can be viewed full at http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&&note_id=147821785254349#!/note.php?note_id=146908465345681


public services must be financed by someone, whether the taxpayer or the consumer of services through direct fee for service and i simply believe we shouldn't give free service to people who can afford paying for them , and that why if you read well my article without distortion you will understand what i'm for; and i say it again, i am for partial free education just in rural areas, so on this debate you should first understand how we differ in ideology , if you take it from so called human right perspective , i would allow you to name me whatever you want but i don't subscribe to your ideology in this matter.
on substance arguments and the allegation you have raised ; iam rejecting your accusations as follows;
firstly : As far as conditionality is concerned you don't live in the world of reality and you may need to refresh your mind with what actual happening on ground when it comes to the subject matter.
A good example of how things have not changed in term of conditionality, is the 2005 imf policy support instrument (psi). Though psi, imf provides economic policy advice to a country, and then monitors it to determine whether or not the country has earned the imf's endorsement. Creditors and donors can then base their decision to offer loans or grants to a country based on the imf's psi assessment, in nutshell this has been a key overrider of paris declaration . In practice, this program continues to enforce imf economic reforms and compromise the ability of tanzania to decide its own development path e.g free education o . And since 2007 tanzania has being part of policy support instrument (psi) which means it is under conditions and it has to comply , so when you see them guys at mirambo street , remember they are very powerful in deciding the polices issues of tanzania. And in short they push for cut in social spending on health, education, and other public services and not only that but they have advised the government to keep wage levels low, therefore my question for chadema n was legitimate and .

Moreover, to see how conditionality is still a big negotiating tools for donors countries you can visit weak leaks and download the leaked document which shows how the eu used the threat to "reprogram development aid" if developing countries do not agree to sign a new free trade agreement with the eu (so called epas).eu aid depends on trade threat plan in trade talks 2007(http://wikileaks.org/wiki/eu_aid_depends_on_trade_threat_plan_in_trade_talks_2007)
the way forward is financial independent and in reality we have a long way to achieve it if the current trend continues


on your accusation that"i have not provided statistics that prove that the government would have to spend 35% of the annual budget to invest in education", again it just highlight your lack of research before you responded to this posting.i wonder if you have read the chadema education policy; but for your information and since you have raised the issue , the 35% figure is chadema owns projections. Which is posted on chadema website;
"serikali ya chadema itafanyaje ili kuboresha elimu ya tanzania?"
http://www.chadema.or.tz/nyaraka/sera/elimu.php
"itatenga kwa sekta ya elimu na elimu ya uraia asilimia 35% ya bajeti yote ya serikali – italenga kuboresha mazingira ya elimu, ya ufundishaji na uboreshaji wa maslahi ya waalimu na kuweka mazingira mazuri kwa wanafunzi wenye ulemavu kupata elimu bila vikwazo"

as i have mentioned my source above, i think you have to rework your figures and comes with new numbers which will reflect chadema spending commitment
lastly, me and you we share the same vision of the country, we want a better country , but myself i don't believe in welfare state especially for poor countries , that why if you read my previous writing i have always believed that tanzania needs a powerful new economic narrative that will push the discussion and the development agenda around a new and we can't move from economic constraints to economic possibilities if we won't ask the people who has mainly based in town to pay for more .
One of the best ways to achieve economic revolution is to change our investment priorities by making our economic growth pro-poor, and because the poor live mostly in rural areas and generally depend on the agricultural sector for their income, growth that stems from agricultural productivity and that raises the incomes of small-scale farmers is particularly important in reducing poverty. Furthermore for successful economic revolution in tanzania to happen i believe we need to invest more in rural areas, most of our development policies have under invested in rural areas and if you read well my article that is what i have tried to emphasize . My proposal for achieving this is always for the government to cut 50 percent of the budget allocated to districts which are located in urban areas and spend more money from saving accumulated from the cut to improve the basic services in rural areas and that why i believe the free education should be only partial provided to people in rural and people in towns should pay.

thank you mr emmanuel tayari for yoyur response to mwanakijiji's article, in my views your response is trying to evade tha fact that tanzania as a country with the same level of resources can provide free education to all its school going children.

That does not mean chadema will repeat mwalimu"s mistakes of deleting private schools thus forcing parents who prefer to send their children to schools of their choice to send them to government funded schools.

Whata chadema is advocating is equla distrubution of the country's resources through efficient taxation of well to do and providing free services to unfortunates

 

[Jatropha]

it won't be possible because chadema are unlikely to make the next government. Tujifunze kutokana na chaguzi za 1995, 2000 na 2005 huko zanzibar ambapo cuf walikaribia kuunda serikali lakini hawakupewa nafasi hiyo, sina uhakika kama chadema wamezingatia hilo?

ukombozi wa pili watanzania sio lazima chadema kukamata madaraka, kikubwa ni kila mtanzania awe informed kuhusu haki zake na ajitambue