Thursday 16 July 2015

Big Results Now rings in spectacular exam results.Drive Hot News



 Necta Executive Secretary Charles Msonde says results are another indication that the education sector is set to record impressive achievements under the Big Results Now (BRN) initiative


Zanzibar. Some 98.87 per cent of Form Six finalists who sat their national examinations earlier in the year have passed, the National Examinations Council of Tanzania (Necta) announced here yesterday.
Necta Executive Secretary Charles Msonde told reporters that 38,853 of 40,753 students who sat the exams did well.
He saw this as another indication that the education sector is set to record impressive achievements under the Big Results Now (BRN) initiative. The results released in Zanzibar indicate a slight improvement over the previous year’s performance, with 98.26 per cent of students passing.
Public schools
Public schools put up an impressive performance, contrary to expectations that private schools would do better. There are 13 public schools on the list of top 20 schools. Of those who sailed through, 11,734 were girls and 27,119 were boys.
The pass rate has risen each year due to the government’s efforts to improve the quality of education. Public and private schools have shared five slots each on the list of top performers.
Thirty-five students failed to sit their exams, some of them because they were unwell, and Necta has given an assurance that the students will resit their examinations in May next year. “Five of those who did the exams had their results cancelled after it was established that they had cheated,” said Dr Msonde.
The students who made it to the Top 10 list include Ramadhani Gembe (Feza Boys), Lesuian Lengare (Ilboru), Hunayza Mohamed (Feza Girls), Rosemary Chengula (St Marys, Mazinde Juu) and Kelvin Rutahoile (St Joseph’s Cathedral).
Others are Joseph Pasian (Ilboru), Andarton Masanja (St Joseph’s Cathedral), Yonazi Senkondo (Feza Boys), Lupyana Kinyamagogoha (Mzumbe) and Meghna Solanki (Shaaban Robert).
The students on the top list have showed high capacity in science subjects, which means they now join the group of students with special talent.
Schools with high scoring students include St Mary’s Mazinde Juu (120), Ivumwe Secondary (68), Feza Girls (67) and Kisimiri (59). Others are Scolastica (40), Namabengo (38), Vwawa (31), Feza Boys (54) and Runzewe (38).
The national best science students in the Top Ten list are Ramadhani Gembe (Feza Boys), Lesian Lengare (Ilboru), Hunayza Mohamed (Feza Girls), Rosemary Chengula (St Mary Mazinde Juu), Kevin Fidelis Rutahoile (St Joseph Cathedral), Anderton Masanja (St Joseph Cathedral), Joseph Pasia (Ilboru), Lupyana Kinyamagoha (Mzumbe), Yonazi Senkondo (Feza Boys) and Meghna Solanki of Shaaban Robert Secondary School.

Obama visit to 'reassure support' for Kenya on key issues.Drive Hot News



US President Barack Obama waves after arriving on Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on July 2, 2015.  AFP PHOTO | SAUL LOEB
 US President Barack Obama waves after arriving on Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on July 2, 2015.


US President Barack Obama says his visit to Kenya next week will cement his government’s resolve to support the region on “important issues.”
In a press briefing on Wednesday in Washington, President Obama said he looked forward to travelling to Nairobi because it will give him an opportunity to reassure support for Kenya and the region.
“My hope is, is that we can deliver a message that the US is a strong partner not just for Kenya, but for sub-Saharan Africa generally,” he said.
“[We can] build on the progress that’s been made around issues of health and education; focus on counterterrorism issues that are important in East Africa because of Al-Shabaab and some of the tragedies that have happened inside of Kenya.”
The US government has maintained in the past that it was supporting Kenya’s counterterrorism efforts.
In May, Secretary of State John Kerry told journalists in Nairobi that the US would give Sh9.6 billion in the fight against Al-Shabaab, as well as help in intelligence gathering and sharing.
Obama will be visiting Nairobi from July 24 for the first time as president to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), one of his flagship programmes to support the youth and women against poverty.
3,000 EXPECTED TO ATTEND
More than 3,000 business leaders, policymakers, investors and entrepreneurs are expected to attend the event which will be the first in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Obama’s visit has created excitement beyond GES because his father was Kenyan and it looks like a home-coming.
His itinerary has been closely guarded but on Wednesday, he told journalists his government would also press for "democratic values" often associated with his three previous foreign travels in Africa.
“We will hopefully continue to encourage democracy and the reduction of corruption inside that country that sometimes has held back this incredibly gifted and blessed country.
“It’s obviously something I’m looking forward to. I’ll be honest with you, visiting Kenya as a private citizen is probably more meaningful to me than visiting as President because I can actually get outside of a hotel room or a conference centre.
“And just the logistics of visiting a place are always tough as President, but it’s obviously symbolically important.
Obama’s comments could be a great reassurance coming just a day after the State Department issued a travel alert on Kenya, warning Americans to stay away from the conference venues as they could be targeted.

Sacked Emirates airline employee seeks Sh14m in compensation.Drive Hot News


A former security officer is seeking Sh14 million in compensation from Emirates Airlines for illegal termination from employment and discrimination.
 A former security officer is seeking Sh14 million in compensation from Emirates Airlines for illegal termination from employment and discrimination. FILE PHOTO.


A former security officer is seeking Sh14 million in compensation from an international airline for "illegal termination and discrimination".
Ms Mary Wairimu Moturi alleges that her employment as a security coordinator with the United Arab Emirates Airlines was terminated on health grounds, though she “she was fit to continue with her job”.
In a case filed at the Employment and Labour Relations Court by lawyer Titus Koceyo, she alleges that she had been discriminated against by her employer.
Mr Koceyo argues the airline went against the advice of the company doctor that she “should not be allocated night duties due to her health condition”.
He is, therefore, asking the court to declare that the security officer is entitled to compensation and should be paid damages for discrimination at her place of work.
The lawyer says that on June 10, the Emirates Group, named as the respondent in the case, terminated Ms Moturi’s employment citing her incapacity to work, yet the company doctor had declared her medically fit to work.
She alleges that her illness “was caused by a hostile work environment, which she was subjected to by the airline”.
Ms Moturi says that she was surprised that her employer declined, ignored and/or neglected to heed Dr Samina Sidiqqi's advice that she should not be subjected to unfavourable working shifts, which would impede her recovery.
The doctor had said she would have recovered within a period of six months.
Ms Moturi says that the UAE airline poached her from Kenya Airways, where she used to work as a customer care agent.
She left Kenya Airways to join Emirates, where she was offered a salary of UAE Dirham 9,483 (Sh251,932) per month.
WORKED FOR THREE YEARS
She worked for Emirates for three years, from May 25, 2012 to May 27, 2015.
“The precondition of securing employment with the UAE airline was that I undergo medical tests and examinations to ascertain that I was fit to discharge my duties,” she says in the court documents filed in the Labour Relations Court.
Ms Moturi says she was taken through the medical processes by the airline's doctor, “who confirmed that she was fit and in a healthy condition to discharge (the) duties of her office”.
The claimant says her job involved working on night shifts and standing for long hours in “extremely cold weather and also staying in Dubai in highly air-conditioned cold rooms”.
As a result, Ms Moturi states she developed complications in or about December 2014 and was given sick leave for two months.
Mr Koceyo says in the court papers that Ms Moturi resumed work on January 2015 and was informed during one of the medical check-ups that she had developed rheumatic arthritis due to the extreme cold-weather working conditions.
Dr Sidiqqi recommended that, to allow her time to recover fully, she needed six months to adjust to the shift pattern and she should not be assigned night duties.
She is asking the court to award Sh3,023,195 for loss of employment and Sh10 million as damages for discrimination, Sh377,898 in terminal dues, leave allowance of Sh100,722 and a month's notice of Sh251,932.
The Industrial Court has directed the Emirates Group to respond to the case by July 23 failure to which a judgment shall be entered.