Education challenge
The Challenges of Education in Tanzania
Published on December 4, 2014
The educational environment in Tanzania is a topic that greatly interests me. The organization that I work with in Tanzania has been educating children for over 11 years. They give nearly 600 of the poorest of the area a chance at private education. The time I have been in Tanzania has given me a birds-eye view of many characteristics of the Tanzanian culture, including the education sector. The vast majority of Tanzanians are on the bottom rung of education.
This essay will explain the main reason why I am so passionate about this topic. It will also go into details about the educational environment in Tanzania and reasons why Tanzania’s Education statistics are so low. Then I will shed a beacon of hope on the topic to end this essay.
The Reason behind the Passion
The main reason I became so passionate about the education of Tanzanian youth, started about 5 years ago. I was doing interviews for an organization that gives scholarships to private school education, to bright orphans unable to meet the financial obligations to seek private school education. I was asked to sit on their board for several years. I was searching out and interviewing orphans who were preparing to enter into their secondary education. News had spread that I was giving out scholarships, so there was a flood of children coming to me for help. I found that many of the children were very bright children, who did not qualify for a scholarship, because they were not orphans. These young people were from the poorest of the area. Their families struggled to afford the basic school fees in the government schools. My heart was breaking for them.
The breaking point came, when I had to explain to yet another very bright teenager that she didn’t qualify. She was getting ready to enter into form 1. She had very limited English, and Tanzanian secondary schools teach all classes in English. I have seen way too many children fail their first year of secondary school, because they lacked Basic English skills. These children are forced into a world where the only jobs they qualify for pay the lowest possible wages.
The Statistics of the Educational Environment in Tanzania
Why are the government schools of Tanzania so challenged to meet the fundamental right of these children for a good education? The statistics of children who actually complete their education is very sad. The following excerpt comes from Human Rights Watch: “Tanzanian law and international treaties that Tanzania has ratified, everyone under 18 has a right to education. Yet hundreds of thousands of children in Tanzania are pushed out of school each year long before they reach 18 because they fail the Primary School Leaving Exam. Passing the exam is required for access to public secondary education. But more than 400,000 children, 49.4 percent, failed the exam in 2013. The year before, a staggering 69.3 percent failed. Girls are disproportionately affected, with lower percentages passing the exam. (Kippenberg, 2014)
The actual percentage of the children that actually make it through secondary education is even more deplorable. “The net enrollment rate for lower secondary education is 30.8 percent, and for upper secondary education only 1.9 percent.” (USAid.gov, 2014)
The Contributing Factors
There must be reasons for the dismal education record of Tanzania. I started doing research to get some insight that will hopefully shed some light on why Tanzania continues to lag behind in the Educational sectors, even with so many organizations pouring money into helping. My personal experience and research have shown that there are many factors contributing to the low educational advancements in Tanzania.
Contributing factors to low educational development and output:
1. Tanzania is pro-poor focused
2. Lack of qualified teachers
3. Lack of textbooks in classrooms
4. Overcrowded classrooms
The Pro-Focused Education in Tanzania
To start this journey, let’s start with the early foundations of the independence of Tanzania as a nation. I found the following report very powerful as to what may be one of the keys to the foundational problem of this issue. The intention of the first president of Tanzania, The Honorable Late Julius Nyerere, was pro-poor focused.
This is from a report, Education and Poverty Reduction in Tanzania: “The education system in Tanzania was based on the philosophy of Nyerere’s Education for Self Reliance (Nyerere 1967). This has a strong pro-poor focus, urging for primary education to be terminal for the majority. The curriculum was intended to equip them with the skills needed for self reliant, rural livelihoods rather than for further academic education. Post-primary education was to be limited in quantity to produce enough graduates to supply the predicted manpower requirements and no more. In the late 70s great efforts were made to achieve UPE and by 1980 the GER had reached 98%”. (Wedgwood, 2013)
Lack of Qualified Teachers
The second issue that brought the education of Tanzanian’s into a nearly insurmountable mountain has to do with qualified teachers. The results of the pro-focused foundation led to the lack of qualified teachers on all levels. Here is the evidence: “Many Tanzanian writers (e.g Leshabari and Masesa 2000; Rajabu 2000) identify the push for UPE as the major cause of the deterioration in quality at all levels of education in Tanzania. ‘UPE’, pronounced ‘oopay’, has become a colloquial term associated with low quality education rather than with universalisation. Some jest that the letters UPE stand for Ualimu Pasipo Elimu (teaching without education). Expansion of primary without expansion of secondary led to reduced transition rates, which was perceived by parents as reduced quality of primary. The expansion of primary also caused a high demand for teachers, to the extent that there were not enough secondary graduates to supply the demand, and primary teachers were drawn from populations who had not attended secondary school.” (Wedgwood, 2013)
I mentor a group of teenagers who had no English, Math, or Science teacher for their entire year last year. The resources of qualified teachers go to the levels that have exit tests: Standard 5, 7, Form 2, and Form 4. These classes typically are given the greatest resources. That means that the other classes are forces to have unqualified teachers.
Lack of Textbooks in the Classrooms
The third problem is the lack of textbooks in the classrooms. The young people I mentor have given me great insight into the actual measure of desperation that they possess to complete and succeed. The classes have no textbooks. They are required to take extensive notes that become their textbooks. They want to succeed, but in the end, it will take a change of the foundation of the Education system of Tanzania to really make lasting change.
Academia.Edu did an in-depth project that included asking teachers what they thought the greatest challenges in relation to classrooms. “In response to the question, ‘what challenges do you face while teaching your subject?’ Two outstanding challenges were cited by most respondents: overcrowded classrooms and lack of relevant textbooks. Other challenges were lack of skills to handle certain topics in the revised primary school curricula, handling of pupils with special needs and shortage of desks.” (Nkumbi, 2008)
The Overcrowding of Classrooms
The last factor I will cover is the overcrowding of classrooms. This connects with the lack of teachers. The teenagers that I mentor have all confirmed the overcrowded classroom situations in their government school. They say that there is one teacher per 200 pupils, due to the lack of teachers in their school. These young people continue to impress me. The challenges do not make them quit, but rather make them press even harder.
The Beacon of Hope
The report may seem pretty dark, but pockets of light exist. There are organizations that have seen the need for stronger standards of education that not only give the affluent a chance, but all. I believe that I can make a small difference, by mentoring a group of teenagers that are in the government school system. I have seen a difference in their English skills and study habits. They feel hope, simply because I care. I think that if enough have this attitude, we can at least give a chance to enough young people that they can get an education that will propel them into success.
Conclusion
This essay explored many aspects of the educational environment in Tanzania. I shared why I am so passionate about the topic. I shared the statistics of the environment. Four of the contributing factors to this environment were explored. Lastly, I shared a small beacon of hope to this topic. Young people are the future of the world and education gives them a great foundation to be productive citizens of the society they live in. My hopes are that I have left you with some useful information to think about.
References:
Kippenberg, J. (2014, May 13).
Tanzania: Let's Tackle The Primary Leaving Exam. Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/13/tanzania-let-s-tackle-primary-school-leaving-exam
Nkumbi, W. L. (2008). Teacher Professional Development in Tanzania:Perceptions and Practices . Retrieved from Academia.Edu/ : http://www.academia.edu/4555993/Teacher_Professional_Development_in_Tanzania_Perceptions_and_Practices
USAid.gov. (2014, 02 11). Education. Retrieved from USAid.gov: http://www.usaid.gov/tanzania/education
Wedgwood, R. (2013, 06). Education and Poverty Reduction. Retrieved from HakiElimu Working Papers: http://tdsnfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Education-and-Poverty-Reduction-in-Tanzania.pdf
About the author
Raphael julius
Bachelor of sc with ict
Dodoma univesity
All right reserved @2017
Published on December 4, 2014
The educational environment in Tanzania is a topic that greatly interests me. The organization that I work with in Tanzania has been educating children for over 11 years. They give nearly 600 of the poorest of the area a chance at private education. The time I have been in Tanzania has given me a birds-eye view of many characteristics of the Tanzanian culture, including the education sector. The vast majority of Tanzanians are on the bottom rung of education.
This essay will explain the main reason why I am so passionate about this topic. It will also go into details about the educational environment in Tanzania and reasons why Tanzania’s Education statistics are so low. Then I will shed a beacon of hope on the topic to end this essay.
The Reason behind the Passion
The main reason I became so passionate about the education of Tanzanian youth, started about 5 years ago. I was doing interviews for an organization that gives scholarships to private school education, to bright orphans unable to meet the financial obligations to seek private school education. I was asked to sit on their board for several years. I was searching out and interviewing orphans who were preparing to enter into their secondary education. News had spread that I was giving out scholarships, so there was a flood of children coming to me for help. I found that many of the children were very bright children, who did not qualify for a scholarship, because they were not orphans. These young people were from the poorest of the area. Their families struggled to afford the basic school fees in the government schools. My heart was breaking for them.
The breaking point came, when I had to explain to yet another very bright teenager that she didn’t qualify. She was getting ready to enter into form 1. She had very limited English, and Tanzanian secondary schools teach all classes in English. I have seen way too many children fail their first year of secondary school, because they lacked Basic English skills. These children are forced into a world where the only jobs they qualify for pay the lowest possible wages.
The Statistics of the Educational Environment in Tanzania
Why are the government schools of Tanzania so challenged to meet the fundamental right of these children for a good education? The statistics of children who actually complete their education is very sad. The following excerpt comes from Human Rights Watch: “Tanzanian law and international treaties that Tanzania has ratified, everyone under 18 has a right to education. Yet hundreds of thousands of children in Tanzania are pushed out of school each year long before they reach 18 because they fail the Primary School Leaving Exam. Passing the exam is required for access to public secondary education. But more than 400,000 children, 49.4 percent, failed the exam in 2013. The year before, a staggering 69.3 percent failed. Girls are disproportionately affected, with lower percentages passing the exam. (Kippenberg, 2014)
The actual percentage of the children that actually make it through secondary education is even more deplorable. “The net enrollment rate for lower secondary education is 30.8 percent, and for upper secondary education only 1.9 percent.” (USAid.gov, 2014)
The Contributing Factors
There must be reasons for the dismal education record of Tanzania. I started doing research to get some insight that will hopefully shed some light on why Tanzania continues to lag behind in the Educational sectors, even with so many organizations pouring money into helping. My personal experience and research have shown that there are many factors contributing to the low educational advancements in Tanzania.
Contributing factors to low educational development and output:
1. Tanzania is pro-poor focused
2. Lack of qualified teachers
3. Lack of textbooks in classrooms
4. Overcrowded classrooms
The Pro-Focused Education in Tanzania
To start this journey, let’s start with the early foundations of the independence of Tanzania as a nation. I found the following report very powerful as to what may be one of the keys to the foundational problem of this issue. The intention of the first president of Tanzania, The Honorable Late Julius Nyerere, was pro-poor focused.
This is from a report, Education and Poverty Reduction in Tanzania: “The education system in Tanzania was based on the philosophy of Nyerere’s Education for Self Reliance (Nyerere 1967). This has a strong pro-poor focus, urging for primary education to be terminal for the majority. The curriculum was intended to equip them with the skills needed for self reliant, rural livelihoods rather than for further academic education. Post-primary education was to be limited in quantity to produce enough graduates to supply the predicted manpower requirements and no more. In the late 70s great efforts were made to achieve UPE and by 1980 the GER had reached 98%”. (Wedgwood, 2013)
Lack of Qualified Teachers
The second issue that brought the education of Tanzanian’s into a nearly insurmountable mountain has to do with qualified teachers. The results of the pro-focused foundation led to the lack of qualified teachers on all levels. Here is the evidence: “Many Tanzanian writers (e.g Leshabari and Masesa 2000; Rajabu 2000) identify the push for UPE as the major cause of the deterioration in quality at all levels of education in Tanzania. ‘UPE’, pronounced ‘oopay’, has become a colloquial term associated with low quality education rather than with universalisation. Some jest that the letters UPE stand for Ualimu Pasipo Elimu (teaching without education). Expansion of primary without expansion of secondary led to reduced transition rates, which was perceived by parents as reduced quality of primary. The expansion of primary also caused a high demand for teachers, to the extent that there were not enough secondary graduates to supply the demand, and primary teachers were drawn from populations who had not attended secondary school.” (Wedgwood, 2013)
I mentor a group of teenagers who had no English, Math, or Science teacher for their entire year last year. The resources of qualified teachers go to the levels that have exit tests: Standard 5, 7, Form 2, and Form 4. These classes typically are given the greatest resources. That means that the other classes are forces to have unqualified teachers.
Lack of Textbooks in the Classrooms
The third problem is the lack of textbooks in the classrooms. The young people I mentor have given me great insight into the actual measure of desperation that they possess to complete and succeed. The classes have no textbooks. They are required to take extensive notes that become their textbooks. They want to succeed, but in the end, it will take a change of the foundation of the Education system of Tanzania to really make lasting change.
Academia.Edu did an in-depth project that included asking teachers what they thought the greatest challenges in relation to classrooms. “In response to the question, ‘what challenges do you face while teaching your subject?’ Two outstanding challenges were cited by most respondents: overcrowded classrooms and lack of relevant textbooks. Other challenges were lack of skills to handle certain topics in the revised primary school curricula, handling of pupils with special needs and shortage of desks.” (Nkumbi, 2008)
The Overcrowding of Classrooms
The last factor I will cover is the overcrowding of classrooms. This connects with the lack of teachers. The teenagers that I mentor have all confirmed the overcrowded classroom situations in their government school. They say that there is one teacher per 200 pupils, due to the lack of teachers in their school. These young people continue to impress me. The challenges do not make them quit, but rather make them press even harder.
The Beacon of Hope
The report may seem pretty dark, but pockets of light exist. There are organizations that have seen the need for stronger standards of education that not only give the affluent a chance, but all. I believe that I can make a small difference, by mentoring a group of teenagers that are in the government school system. I have seen a difference in their English skills and study habits. They feel hope, simply because I care. I think that if enough have this attitude, we can at least give a chance to enough young people that they can get an education that will propel them into success.
Conclusion
This essay explored many aspects of the educational environment in Tanzania. I shared why I am so passionate about the topic. I shared the statistics of the environment. Four of the contributing factors to this environment were explored. Lastly, I shared a small beacon of hope to this topic. Young people are the future of the world and education gives them a great foundation to be productive citizens of the society they live in. My hopes are that I have left you with some useful information to think about.
References:
Kippenberg, J. (2014, May 13).
Tanzania: Let's Tackle The Primary Leaving Exam. Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/05/13/tanzania-let-s-tackle-primary-school-leaving-exam
Nkumbi, W. L. (2008). Teacher Professional Development in Tanzania:Perceptions and Practices . Retrieved from Academia.Edu/ : http://www.academia.edu/4555993/Teacher_Professional_Development_in_Tanzania_Perceptions_and_Practices
USAid.gov. (2014, 02 11). Education. Retrieved from USAid.gov: http://www.usaid.gov/tanzania/education
Wedgwood, R. (2013, 06). Education and Poverty Reduction. Retrieved from HakiElimu Working Papers: http://tdsnfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Education-and-Poverty-Reduction-in-Tanzania.pdf
About the author
Raphael julius
Bachelor of sc with ict
Dodoma univesity
All right reserved @2017
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