Tanzania: Higher Learning Students Eulogise Magufuli FacebookTwitterWhatsAppFlipboardLinkedInRedditEmailShare

THE Students' Organisation at the University of Dodoma has said higher learning students will remember the late Dr John Magufuli for his great efforts in improving tertiary education. Speaking to reporters here in Dodoma, the University of Dodoma Students' Organisation (UDOSO) acknowledged the departed fifth Tanzania's President, Dr Magufuli's high regard to university students' welfare, particularly increasing budgets for higher education loans.

UDOSO's Minister of Credit, Finance, Planning and Resource Management, Emanuel Martine, said the untimely death of Dr Magufuli is a big blow, noting that the efforts demonstrated by the celebrated statesman curbed regular students' strikes over delayed loans.

Mr Martine said during Dr Magufuli's presidency students did not engage in strikes because the majority of them accessed timely and sufficient loans.

"In the past, there was a regular delay in students' loans issuance for fees and accomodation which caused inconvenience to the students and pushed them to protest on the streets to claim the money, but after Dr Magufuli reigned everything improved." he recalled.

For his part, the HESLB's Loan Manager for the Dodoma zone, Octavia Seleman, said the late Dr Magufuli made significant contributions in ensuring that borrowers repay the money so that new students could also access the loans.

Mr Seleman noted that collections from loan repayment have increased from 28.2bn/- in the year 2016/2017 to 200bn/- in the year 2020/2021.

This, he said, has increased the number of loan beneficiaries from 93,100 students in the year 2014/2015 to 145,000 students in 2020/2021.

"All these achievements are due to his efforts to ensure the improvement of the higher education funding system, and that the loan system remains stable and helpful," he insisted.

He said that they will honour the fallen leader by following his principles, vowing that they will always work hard to avoid recurrence of the previous challenges, including strikes resulting from delayed loans and some students missing loans.

Read the original article on Daily News.