Spider silk cape goes on display

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Bianca Gavmilas models the Golden Spider Silk Cape made from the golden silk of 1.2 million golden orb spiders over a period of nearly eight years in Madagascar Photo: Paul Grover

A cape created from golden silk spun by more than a million spiders is going on display this week.

The hand-woven garment is being shown at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum alongside the Golden Spider Silk, a four-metre long piece of brocaded fabric. It took more than four years to make the items from the silk of 1.2 million female golden orb spiders, native to Madagascar.

They have been made by Englishman Simon Peers, who lives in Madagascar, and American Nicholas Godley, and are the only large textiles in the world to have been made from spider silk.

Mr Peers said: “We were keen to show the spider silk textiles at the V&A, being the most appropriate place to premiere this work in Europe.

The cape is on show at the Victoria & Albert Museum from January 25th to 5th June Photo: Paul Grover

“The unique and historic costume and textile collections have been a constant source of inspiration over the years. As far as we know the V&A has never before shown anything made from spider silk, despite its diverse collections of art and decorative arts.

“So we are pleased and very proud to be adding a first to a museum with such a rich, long and illustrious history, and would like to think that we in turn can be an inspiration to others.”

Spiders are collected every morning before silk is extracted from them by trained handlers. They are not harmed in the process and are returned to the wild at the end of each day.

The last known spider silk textile was made for an exhibition in Paris in 1900 but no examples remain.

Copyright © 2012 The Press Association.

Pinda: Stop elevating technical colleges to varsities

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Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda

Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda has discouraged the current trend of transforming technical colleges into universities, saying the colleges need to offer the same services they were intended to at their formation.

Speaking over the weekend at the third graduation ceremony of Arusha Technical College (ATC), Pinda said that the country was now in more need of technicians than before. During the graduation a total of

231 students graduated from different technical fields.

“This is the biggest challenge, as now we’re facing a shortage of technicians in engineering and technology and we’ve started taking steps to improve the quality of education offered by vocational training colleges,” he said, adding that the colleges need to be closely supervised by the National Council of Technical Education (NACTE).

He stated that by June, last year, NACTE had registered 240 institutions offering technical education across the country.

“This number is still small compared to the country’s demand,” he said.

He however commended ATC for coming up with unique training programmes which meet the market demand. Recently, the college introduced civil and irrigation engineering subjects among three new courses.

Earlier, college principal Dr. Richard Masika said that ATC was set to increase enrolment of students from 1,170 to 1,655 by 2014/15 in an effort to curb the shortage of technicians in different engineering fields.

He stated that the college was in the process of increasing the number of programmes which meet the country’s requirement and market demand.

“We’re very determined to meet the challenges facing the country right now. Our role as a technical institute is to drill more experts in this area,” he said.

Established in 1978, the college was elevated to an autonomous college by the National Council for Technical Education (NACTE) in 2007.

Acting College board chairman Susan Mnafe said that in order for ATC to meet its mission, more had to be done, including improving teaching and learning infrastructure and increasing the number of female hostels.

By Lusekelo Philemon, The Guardian

U.S. rivals accuse China of dumping solar panels

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A worker cleans solar panels on a rooftop of Yiwu International Trade. REUTERS

Chinese solar panel makers flooded the U.S. market with their products at the end of last year in anticipation of potential duties on those products, a coalition of American solar manufacturers said on Wednesday, a charge refuted by some top Chinese companies.

The Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing, led by the U.S. arm of German panel maker SolarWorld AG, said Chinese manufacturers including Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd and Trina Solar Ltd have more than doubled shipments of solar cells and modules.

Citing data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Port Import Export Reporting Service, the coalition said Suntech imports rose 76 percent in November compared with the previous month. It said Trina’s imports rose 209 percent in the first half of December compared with the first half of November.

“This significant increase in imports demonstrates that the Chinese know they have violated U.S. and international trade rules and are trying to evade the consequences,” Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld Industries America, said in a statement.

Suntech and Trina Solar cited a change in a key U.S. government program for solar installations at the end of 2011 for the year-end surge. The program had paid solar developers a cash grant of 30 percent of the cost of new products.

This year it has become a tax-benefit program that allows solar power plant developers to deduct 30 percent of a project’s cost from their taxes over several years.

“Strong U.S. market demand in the fourth quarter was driven largely by the anticipated expiry of the cash grant program,” a Suntech spokesman said. “Suntech continues to grow steadily with the U.S. solar industry, and in 2011 we maintained our leading market share.”

A Trina Solar spokesman said the company is opposed to any suggestion that its U.S. imports surged as the result of efforts to evade potential tariffs.

“Further, due to production cycle and delivery logistics, it’s an established industry pattern to see the majority of any quarter’s shipments occurring in the last month,” the spokesman said.

Obama’s pledge

CASM also said Miami-based importer Sun Electronics brought in 31,000 Chinese solar laminates on a single day in December, accusing the privately held company of stockpiling imports. The shipment consisted of “at least 77 shipping containers,” the statement said.

Sun Electronics could not be reached for comment.

SolarWorld Industries and six other U.S. solar companies, who have chosen to remain anonymous, have accused Chinese competitors of receiving illegal government subsidies and selling their products in the United States at unfairly low prices.

The companies in October filed a case asking the U.S. Commerce Department to set duties of more than 100 percent on Chinese-made solar cells and panels. Another coalition of U.S. solar companies opposes duties, saying they would threaten 100,000 jobs in the industry by driving up prices and depressing demand.

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted last month to allow the case to proceed and for the Commerce Department to announce preliminary duties this year.

A preliminary decision is expected Feb. 13.

CASM’s statement comes a day after President Barack Obama said in his annual State of the Union speech that he was creating an enforcement unit to crack down on unfair trade practices in China and other countries.

He did not mention the solar panel case specifically, but urged Congress to pass tax credits to create more U.S. clean energy jobs. (Additional reporting by Sakthi Prasad; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Source: Reuters

PM urges doctors to resume work

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Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda

Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda has appealed to the striking doctors to resume work, stressing his readiness to meet their representatives to chart ways of resolving pending issues.

He insisted that it wasn’t right for the doctors to continue with the strike at the expense of patients.

The Premier made the remarks in Dar es Salaam yesterday during his meeting with editors where he talked about implementation of major issues facing the nation including the economy and the new constitution process.

“Sincerely speaking, the doctors should go back to assist patients…they should continue providing services while working on their problems,” he said.

He said that earlier the doctor’s representatives from the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT) were to meet him on Tuesday evening but they didn’t appear.

He said they requested to meet him on Friday last week but he was in Arusha for official business, and thereafter asked Permanent Secretary Peniel Lyimo and Deputy Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Lucy Nkya to attend them.

“It is very unfortunate that they didn’t reach consensus. However, I was informed that they have chosen new representatives…I am now available and ready to meet them,” Pinda said.

Elaborating, he said the whole issue is due to lack of proper information, He said the Ministry was supposed to make the interns aware that allowances would be delayed as the government first pays salaries before disbursing funds for Other Charges (OC) which also cover their payments.

According to the Premier, the doctors have the right to demand their salaries since they don’t have other sources of income, but wondered why they had resolved to continue striking even after being paid the 800m/- which the government owed them as allowances for the months of November and December last year.

Meanwhile some doctors and other health workers yesterday continued with their strike disrupting services in some of the affected hospitals.

Doctor Steven Ulimboka a doctors’ interim committee chairman, confirmed that doctors in some of regional hospitals in Mbeya, Dodoma and Bugando were also on strike.

He stressed that they will not resume work until the government addressed their claims.

“We are going to continue with the strike until the government responds to our demands,” said Ulimboka.

Speaking in an interview yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Nurses Association (TANA) Muhimbili branch chairperson, Magesa Paul said that they have also called a meeting to discuss the fate of health workers.

He said they have written a letter to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare listing their claims which must be dealt immediately.

“We are giving the government until tomorrow (today) (11:00 am) to respond to our claims otherwise we will join the doctors,” he stressed.

Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI) and Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) were not operating yesterday, indicating that its workers were still on strike.

Doctors and other health workers were on Tuesday divided over a countrywide strike by the medical staff, with some reporting for duty and others clearly keeping their word by staying away.

The doctors decided to announce indefinite strike after the government failed to respond to their demands.

Source The Guardian

Japan winds up HIV/AIDS control project in Tanzania

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Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative Yukihide Katsuta

The government of Japan yesterday commended the Ministry for Health and Social Welfare for promoting HIV/Aids prevention activities through the provision of equipment and commodities.

This was said by Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative Yukihide Katsuta when closing an HIV/Aids control project which started in 2009 and came to an end in December 2011, which had been funded through a Japan grant aid scheme since 2005.

Katsuta said they aimed at contributing significantly to the expansion of HIV/Aids services, such as voluntary counseling, testing and treatment, to reduce new infections in the country, thanking the government of Tanzania for ensuring the project met the target goals.

“I would like to commended the government of Tanzania and the Health ministry for their strong leadership and ownership of this endeavor to control HIV/Aids spread,” he said.

“The project has ended, as the last delivery of goods was completed in December 2011. However, closure of this project does not mean the end of cooperation by the people of Japan, for we will continue supporting other projects according to needs,” he added.

According to him, currently JICA supported the Health ministry in implementing three technical cooperation projects under the Health System Strengthening Programme, such as providing technical support to the Aids Commission in strengthening supportive, supervision, monitoring and evaluation aspects.

For her part, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Blandina Nyoni said the grant had really enhanced the control of HIV and strengthened sexually transmitted infections (STI) drug treatment.

She said during the project term the ministry managed to ensure that HIV and syphilis testing kits were available throughout the year and also ensured that drugs for the treatment of STIs were available in clinics under proper management and care.

The PS added that the country continued with the fight against HIV/Aids through a number of interventions, including HIV testing and counselling.

“We have widened the range of voluntary counselling and testing to the family level through home- based HIV counselling, as well as providing initiated counselling and testing,” she said

The two initiatives had significantly raised the demand for HIV testing kits and the need for more care and treatment clinics.

In the late 2011 the world witnessed the Global Fund cancellation of Round 11 applications for the HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria funding. It is anticipated that this will impact negatively the levels of achievements towards the control of these two major diseases.

By Gadiosa Lamtey, The Guardian

POAC team probes 500m/- misuse at varsity college

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POAC chairperson Kabwe Zitto

Parastatal Organisations Accounts Committee (POAC) has formed a subcommittee to investigate reports of misuse of more than 500m/- at Mkwawa University College of Education (MUCE).

The committee’s Chairperson, Zitto Kabwe said the funds were linked to the Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLB), adding that the committee has decided not to approve the university’s accounts for the 2009/2010 fiscal year.

The Kigoma-North lawmaker said the Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report for the financial year 2009/2010 showed that more than 260m/- was used to purchase various types of chemicals for laboratory tests while 60m/- from the Loans Board was allocated to fake students at the university.

“We have noted that the prices for the chemicals were doubled…this proves that Mkwawa University is among institutions that doesn’t follow procurement procedures,” Kabwe said.

On the students’ loans scam, he said the committee observed that there were two payment vouchers with forged names of 31 students. He said the names had the same registration and index numbers but with a slight difference in their surnames.

Kabwe said the sub-committee will be led by Mwibara Member of Parliament Kangi Lugola (CCM), naming Kwamtipura legislator, Ali Khamis (CCM) and Special Seats MP Zainabu Kawawa (CCM) as members. He has given them a week to complete investigations into the matter.

He said the sub-committee will collaborate with the CAG’s office, adding that if it is proven that the funds were embezzled, the committee would suggest that the sub-committee conduct similar investigations in other universities.

The committee also found payments which did not have supporting documents, citing salaries being issued without receipts while it is known that all government payments must be supported with receipts.

For his part, the University Principal Prof Philemon Mushi backed the committee’s decision to make further investigations into the university expenditure.

He promised to offer full cooperation to the sub-committee in order to facilitate investigation.

Meanwhile, the Local Authority Accounts Committee (LAAC) refused to approve the financial report for Pangani district, Tanga region for the fiscal year 2009/2010.

The committee Chairman, Augustino Mrema said they didn’t approve the report because the District Executive Director Neneka Rashid did not submit the report to the CAG’s office on time.

“He was supposed to submit the account books to the CAG five days before they were brought to the committee. We cannot approve them since they have been submitted to us directly,” he noted.

According to Mrema 15 percent of the DED’s January salary will be deducted as penalty.

Source The Guardian

Tokyo Has Chance of Seeing Magnitude 7 Earthquake In The Near Future

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Japan’s capital city, Tokyo, has a high probability of experiencing a magnitude-7 earthquake within just a few years, according to Japanese scientists.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute announced Monday there was a 75 percent chance that a 7.0 magnitude quake could strike the region within four years, and a 98 percent probability of one striking in the next 30 years.

The announcement coincided a magnitude 5.1 quake that rocked large parts of north-east Japan, which was already suffering from a March 11, 2011 magnitude-9 earthquake. There were no reports of death or injuries from the quake, but train lines were briefly shut down as a precaution. Tokyo Electric Power Co. told reporters the tremor caused no further damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant ravaged from last year’s tragedy.

The region has been rocked by nearly 700 aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater following last year’s quake, according to the government.

Dubbed the Tohoku quake, last year’s event was the fourth strongest quake in recorded history. It caused abrupt stress changes in the upper plate and triggered widespread seismic activity throughout the Japanese island. The northern part of Ibaraki Prefecture, in particular, saw a significant increase of shallow seismicity after the quake compared with the extremely low rate eight years prior, the researchers said.

The last time Tokyo itself was hit by a big earthquake was in 1923, when a magnitude 7.9 temblor killed more than 100,000 people, many in fires that broke out. Researchers say that since the March 2011 quake, seismic activity in Tokyo has increased dramatically, which leads to a higher probability of a major earthquake.

While basing their calculations on data from Japan’s Meteorological Agency, the research institute says it is still “hard to predict” the casualty impact of a major quake on Tokyo, but government and individuals should be prepared for it all the same.

The Central Disaster Management Council has estimated that a large-scale earthquake in the next few decades could result in 11,000 deaths and an economic loss of 112 trillion yen ($1 trillion US). Its goal is to halve the estimated death toll and reduce the estimated economic loss.

The Japanese government’s Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion puts the magnitude-7 earthquake probability at 70 percent for the Kanto region, which includes Tokyo and Yokohama, within 30 years.

The government’s model estimates that a magnitude 7.3 quake beneath Tokyo Bay could kill 5,600 people in the city and injure more than 145,000, seriously injuring about 15 percent of those.

The model shows that most of the 23 wards of the city would experience an intensity above level 6, with buildings along the rivers that lead inland from the bay susceptible to liquefaction and others in densely populated areas succumbing to fire. More than 25 percent of all buildings in the 23 wards would be destroyed, accounting for nearly 500,000 buildings, according to the model.

Tokyo was fortunate to escape the worst of last year’s earthquake, although the quake still measured an intensity level of five and the tsunami reached 5 feet high in Tokyo Bay. Seven deaths and 116 injuries were attributed to the quake, with around 3,500 buildings being damaged, 13 of which collapsed.

Gary Gibson, a seismologist at Australia’s Seismology Research Center, said he wasn’t surprised by the research institute’s findings, given the level of seismic activity and their model used.

“Seismologists cannot predict with certainty when, where and how large the next big earthquake will be,” Gibson told CNN by email. “However, it is possible to forecast the probability of an earthquake in a particular time range (e.g. the next four years), location area (e.g. the Tokyo region), and magnitude range (e.g. greater than magnitude 7.0).”

“Long-term forecasts use average activity levels from all known past earthquakes, geological data from fault displacements, and data about plate movement and deformation from very precise GPS measurements and other methods to determine these probabilities,” he wrote.

“A magnitude 7.0 earthquake is very much smaller than the magnitude 9.0 Tohoku earthquake,” Gibson wrote. “It would need 1,000 magnitude-7 earthquakes to release as much strain energy as the magnitude-9. The fault rupture size is tens of kilometers, rather than hundreds of kilometers, and the fault displacement two to three meters rather than 20 to 30 meters.”

And depending on location (offshore or onshore) and depth, damage could either be heightened or limited. A shallower quake, with 6 miles of the surface, would result in more localized damage, Gibson added.

Tanzania coffee prices rise on higher demand

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Coffee prices rose at last week’s auction, driven by demand from exporters for high-quality beans, the regulator Moshi-based  Tanzania Coffee Board (TCB) has said.

The number of bags offered for sale at the auction more than doubled from the previous sale as growers increased supply to take advantage of rising prices.

TCB said 18,616 60-kg bags were offered at the latest sale, and 15,280 bags were sold. At the previous sale, a total of 8,223 60-kg bags were up for sale, with 6,526 bags sold.

All the Robusta coffee offered at the auction was bought.

“The coffee supplied to the auction last week was of high quality, while demand has been increasing following the resumption of coffee auctions after the holiday recess,” TCB’s chief auctioneer, Desideri Mboya, told Reuters by telephone from the northern town of Moshi, where the auctions are being held.

“We expect prices at our auctions to remain above the terminal market heading to February-March, since there will be a shortage of coffee harvests this season compared to the previous one.”

Market participants said the up-take of coffee on offer at the weekly auctions was increasing due to global demand.

“Many traders have returned from their holidays and are keento cover their short positions and compensate for the previous two-week lull in trading,” said a trader at a coffee exporting company in Tanzania.

“There is good quality coffee being supplied from the southern and northern parts of the country and everybody wants to get their hands on it.”

Tanzania, Africa’s fourth-largest coffee grower after Ethiopia, Uganda and Ivory Coast, produces mainly Arabica and some Robusta coffee.

Tanzania: New netball rules to be applied in league

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Tanzania Netball Association (CHANETA) chairperson, Anna Bayi.

The new netball rules which came into force on January 1, this year will be applied in the coming local league, according to the Tanzania Netball Association (CHANETA) chairperson, Anna Bayi.

The International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) directed all its member associations to amend their rule books by January 1 and start applying them in their domestic leagues and international matches.

Speaking on Wednesday, Bayi said CHANETA members will meet on Sunday in Dar es Salaam where, among other things, the amended rules will be high on the agenda.

She said the meeting will discuss much on the new rules as delay in applying them could affect players, especially for the national team when they participate in international competitions.

“We will meet on Sunday and we expect to discuss many things, among them will be the issue of new IFNA rules. We want to know when we are going to start applying them and also the dates of the league,” said Bayi.

The news rules, among others, allow team officials and players to coach while play is in progress “provided that they remain seated or stand at their team bench”.

Coaching at the sideline is allowed at intervals and during stoppages.

Bayi also said as one way of improving the team on the IFNA ranking, the association has lined up a number of international games which will be played this year.

At the recent IFNA rankings, the netball national team maintained its 21st position.

Australia remains the world’s number one followed by New Zealand, England and Jamaica, while Malawi and South Africa maintained their 5th and 6th positions respectively.

Another African country in the IFNA rankings is Botswana which is on 16th position.

However, she refused to disclose the teams which they will face and also the dates of the matches, promising to disclose them after the Sunday meeting.

She said the national team needs to play IFNA recognized games between now and July when the rankings will be revised.

Bayi said she is confident that the team will improve on the rankings because they are managing transition of players and the young players are gaining experience.

“It’s our hope that this year we will improve on the rankings. We have young players who are gaining more experience and this will be the strong team,” she said.

By Joseph Mwendapole, The Guardian

Uganda: Rural schools worst hit by the ‘cheating bug’

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Minister Jessica Alupo recieves PLE results from Matthew Bukenya.

The announcement of examination results signals a period of joy as images of candidates and their parents jubilating fill the media.

However, there is another sad side that comes with the release of examination results which the public eye never gets to see, of disheartened candidates who did not excel. Then there is this other group of unfortunate candidates whose results are withheld or in worst case scenarios, cancelled. What happens to such candidates?

Last week, the Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB), announced that it had withheld results of 1,040 candidates in the 2011 Primary Leaving Examinations. The board’s executive secretary, Matthew Bukenya, said the results were withheld because of suspected involvement in examination malpractice.

It is a trying time for parents of over 1,000 candidates whose results were withheld pending investigations. The parents have to battle with the uncertainty of not knowing how their children have performed or whether their results will be released.

Nyantungo Primary School in Kyenjojo district is one of the 64 schools whose results were withheld. Unlike its counterparts that have only partial results withheld, all the results from Nyantungo were withheld.

“I do not know why this has happened to my school. We have always had a clean record. In fact last year we were among the best performing schools in the district,” the disturbed headteacher told the New Vision.

“I cannot see any possible reason why we were suspected of malpractices. All we can do is work on assumptions and wait for the results from the UNEB investigations so that we are cleared and our candidates can continue with school,” the headteacher, Robert Sanyu, said.

An official from UNEB, who preferred anonymity, said there are various scenarios that can make a school become a suspect of malpractice.

One of the scenarios is when a school that has always been performing poorly, performs very well out of the blue. Or when there is a wide gap between children from the same school who passed very highly and those who failed. Another scenario is when the people who mark at UNEB notice variations in handwriting and a similarity with the answer given by several candidates.

Why arethe rural schools most affected?

It is becoming a trend for the rural schools to have their results withheld. Out of the 64 schools this year, two were from Kampala. It was a similar scenario last year. In 2011, 1,227 results were withheld from 62 schools and most of the affected schools were from the rural areas.

In 2010, still 1,450 results were withheld from 73 schools and only three of these were urban schools.  Prof. Bbosa Lutalo, an educationist, attributes this trend to high rates of teacher absenteeism in rural schools. He argues that the upcountry teachers use exam malpractice as a short cut to good grades because they do not teach.

“There is a lot of absenteeism in upcountry schools because teachers are trying to make ends meet by engaging in other activities such as farm work. When the exams come, they want to produce results because they know they have not been teaching,” Lutalo explains.

Lutalo notes that the children are the victims who are dragged into the whole mess. He argues that it is the teachers and invigilators who involve the children yet it is the future of the children which is put into jeopardy.

Lutalo says there is a need for the Government to monitor schools through the district inspector of schools.

“The Government should increase vigilance on inspection of upcountry schools,” Lutalo says.

Addressing journalists at the release of the results, Jessica Alupo, the Minister for Education and Sports, echoed similar views.

Blaming local leaders, school heads and invigilators, Alupo said examinations no longer leaked from UNEB offices but only when they changed hands to the Police and other stakeholders. Alupo said the ministry was going to guard against the money sent to various districts so that the inspection is heightened.

However, some educationists say the problem is more than the poor inspection in districts. “This has to do with particular candidates who get involved in malpractice. Why is it that we have some results released in a particular school and others are withheld? Or, why is it that you find in a district other schools are not culprits?”

Patrick Kaboyo, an educationist, blames it on the general attitude of the authorities and the community around them.

“These are young children who will always tell their parents what is going on at school. Schools and parents are aware of what’s going on but turn a blind eye and only complain after the results have been withheld,” Kaboyo says.

How pupils are affected Gaston Byamugisha, a counsellor in the Ministry of Education department, says withholding results leaves the candidates in a state of anxiety.

“Most times, these children are not part of the malpractice and so wait anxiously for results. When the results are withheld, they are left in a state of confusion yet they still have to go through the process of waiting for UNEB to release their results,” Byamugisha adds.

“It does not get easier when people around them keep asking for their results. And the moment they say their results were withheld, they will be asked whether they cheated in their exams. In the end these children will start feeling like thieves,” Byamugisha adds.

He warns that even if they eventually get cleared, the children may not get the schools of their choice and this will affect their morale.

UNEB assures affected schools of fairness

UNEB has assured all the affected pupils from the 64 schools of a fair hearing by the Board’s examinations security committee before their results are released. “Let us be clear. These schools are suspected of malpractice.

We are not saying they were actually involved in malpractice. That is why the results are withheld and not cancelled,” Bukenya explains.

“Candidates who will be cleared will have their results released,” he adds. But this is no consolation for the affected candidates who live in fear of their results being cancelled.  What next for the affected pupils Primary Seven leavers are expected to report for Senior One by February 13, this is after the selection exercise for Senior One scheduled for next week ends.

With no specific time line on when the investigations of affected schools will be concluded, this leaves the future of waiting candidates in balance.

For the affected schools to be part of the senior one selection exercise, it means UNEB has a few days to release the findings.  Aggrey Kibenge, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, says UNEB is supposed to conclude investigations within a month after the release of the results.

“We learnt a lot from last year’s experience.To avoid anxiety and confusion, we have tasked UNEB to carry out investigations within a month and clear those who are not guilty,” Kibenge says.

“The selection committee is aware of the number of candidates under investigation so they will be able to reserve places for future placements once the candidates are cleared.”

By Angela Ndagano, The New Vision

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