Education in Tanzania

After gaining independence in 1964, Tanzania’s first president Julius Nyerere emphasized education as the most important means of advancing the political, social, and economic well-being of the nation. Until the creation of the Secondary Education Development Programme (SDEP) in 2005, in which every ward is required to have a secondary school in an attempt to boost secondary school enrollment, Tanzania had notoriously low secondary (high school) enrollment. In the 1980’s and 1990’s, Tanzania reached universal primary education, a feat uncommon for many African nations. The number of secondary schools in Tanzania has increased by 363% over the past 10 years.*

Tanzania uses the old British education model (Kindergarten – Standard 7 = Primary School, Forms 1-4 = Secondary School O Level, and Forms 5-6 = High School A Level). Students are required to pass national exams at the end of each year to move to the next level. Students attend primary school for free, yet must pay school fees (approx. $20 U.S.) to attend government or community secondary school. The cost of living quarters, food, and mandatory uniforms pushes the total cost to about $300 per year per child, an onerous and frequently unattainable amount in a country where many people make less than $1 per day.

Although Tanzania uses both English and Swahili as its two official languages, there is a significant debate in the country about which language to use in the education system. As it stands, primary school is taught in Swahili, with students taking one mandatory English class each year. In secondary school, however, every class (aside from one Swahili class) is taught in English. This is the government’s attempt to create graduates that are competent in English in order to be successful in what they consider to be the “global language”. Most students, especially in government and community schools, are far from proficient in the language and many teachers often end up teaching in Swahili.

In the 1980’s, the ban on private education in Tanzania was lifted and thousands of private primary and secondary schools flooded the country. Currently, 26% of secondary schools in Tanzania are private.* However, these schools are very expensive and the average Tanzanian cannot afford a private education.

Below are the most recent secondary enrollment figures for the Tanzanian education system. The government has traditionally been successful at maintaining parity between genders, although males largely predominate at higher levels of education. In an attempt to address the issue, the government gives preference to girls in selection for secondary school and university.

As in many developing nations, Tanzania’s education system is faced with challenges resulting from a lack of proper funding. Most schools, especially primary schools, are overcrowded, often with more than 100 children per classroom and six or seven sharing a desk. Textbooks and other teaching materials are scarce, often forcing 50 children to share one book. Classrooms can be in poor condition, and secondary schools face significant deficiencies in science laboratories and materials, leaving science subjects to be taught theoretically rather than with a practical, hands-on lab component. The government has set standards for textbooks, class size, bathrooms, and laboratories that most often cannot be met. Further, teachers are in high demand and shortages are common, but incentives for new graduates to become teachers remain low. Teachers’ salaries are low, staff housing is largely non-existent, and the government is often late in offering paychecks. Still, despite obvious physical deficiencies, the public opinion of education as an important means of development remains high and has continued to grow over the years. For many parents, sending a child to school is an immediate loss of income in terms of less work completed around the house, on the farm, or for another family business. More than ever, however, parents are realizing the importance of education in a child’s development, the development of Tanzania, and as a valuable investment for the future of the family.

*Source: HakiElimu.org