832 out of 8,089 STUDENTS who were selected to join the first form in various secondary schools in Iringa Vijijini have not reported to their assigned schools and their whereabouts are unknown.

Iringa District Head, Verronica Kessy has given until March 31 this year for the students to be searched and reported in the schools they were assigned to.

In addition to himself participating in the operation, Kessy mentioned others who will be involved in searching for the students, including the parents or guardians of the children, executives and chairmen of villages and counties, councilors, the director of the council and the Revolutionary Party (CCM).

He gave these instructions at the meeting of education stakeholders of the Iringa District Council held today in Iringa and was attended by various stakeholders including individuals, international organizations, government departments, companies and financial institutions.

In the meeting, the stakeholders also resolved to start the construction of student dormitories, especially for girls, in all 34 government schools in the council.

In addition, the meeting has called on the entire community in the relevant areas, including parents and guardians, to ensure that children are raised based on morals and discipline, in order to protect the current and future generations against the great threat of acts of sexual violence, including rape, prostitution as well as acts of homosexuality and incest.

Other resolutions include continuing the campaign to provide lunch to all day school students that will involve donations from parents or guardians, while teachers are encouraged to teach hard.

Giving an assessment of the progress of education, the council's Secondary Education Officer, Sylvester Mwenekitete said the state of passing exams for form two and four is getting stronger in his council with 49 secondary schools, of which 34 are government schools.

"We are having great success in this education sector.

We see the achievement increase year on year in many of our schools.

"And for those that are still behind, we need joint strategies to raise them," he said and provided the success figures.

Earlier, the Chairman of Iringa District Council, Stephen Mhapa congratulated the staff of his council for the way they manage the sector well, saying they deserve praise and support.