Education authorities in Arusha yesterday confirmed that no secondary school will be closed because it is short of food.
Arusha Regional Educational Officer, Nestory Mroka, told 'The Guardian' here that boarding schools in the region have enough food.
His comment came barely a week after reports that a number of schools across Tanzania have indefinitely sent home their students after their food suppliers' suspended services demanding payment of outstanding dues.
"I can confirm to you that there is no school that closed down because of the food shortage," the REO maintained. He stressed that all students were in their schools.
He said the government has released funds for students' food and "schools are waiting for the money to be channelled into their accounts. This doesn't mean that there is no food in schools; the food is there."
The Head Master of Kisimiri Secondary School in Arumeru District, Emmanuel Kisongo, also attested that his school of 970 students had enough food.
He disclosed that his school spends eight bags of maize flour and two bags of beans per day "and we have enough stocks of food."
For his part, the Head Master of Arusha Secondary School, Christopher Malamsha, said his school had received about 5,881,796.40/- from the Arusha City Council Director for boarding students.
"We receive this amount every month for similar purposes. This amount is not enough, but we are allowed to use 50 percent of students' school fees," he said, adding that his school had enough food.
