Tanzania
-- Education
Education
played an
important
role in
the reforms
that Nyerere
proposed
after independence.
Nyerere
saw education
as closely
tied to
social commitment.
He believed
that it
should encourage
both self
reliance
and cooperation
with others.
The
system proposed
by Nyerere
broke rather
sharply
with colonial
programs
of education
in several
respects.
Unlike many
African
nations,
Tanzania
placed great
emphasis
on practical
aspects
of education.
Agriculture,
commerce,
home economics,
and technical
and scientific
subjects
have a central
role in
secondary
school curricula.
Schooling
at each
level was
to be complete
in itself
rather than
a preparation
for the
next level.
During the
first years
after independence
a majority
of teachers
in Tanzania
were expatriates.
These have
been rapidly
replaced
by Tanzanians.
According
to Nyerere's
system,
students
were to
be prepared
not primarily
for examinations,
but for
the agricultural
life to
which most
of them
would return.
Farming
workshops,
where modern
methods
are taught
in spite
of the simplicity
of available
tools, have
become an
important
part of
the process
of education.
Students
are expected
to participate
in housekeeping
and administrative
tasks as
a means
of learning
responsibilityand
cooperation.
Primary
and secondary
school students
in towns
must work
in nearby
villages
to solidify
the links
between
urban and
rural people.
During vacations,
students
in higher
education
are expected
to participate
in practical
projects
related
to their
field of
study; failure
to participate
brings lower
grades.
Since
independence,
the Tanzanian
government
has allocated
about 20%
of its budget
to education.
In November
1977, TANU
inaugurated
a program
of obligatory
universal
primary
education.
Villagers
helped build
the new
schools.
Three years
later, nearly
all seven-year
olds had
entered
the school
system (3.6
million,
or more
than seven
times the
number at
independence).
About 7.7%
of those
who graduated
from primary
school (estimated
to be 10,000,
32% of them
women) entered
vocational
training
programs
each year.
In 1985,
primary
school enrollment
reached
72%. Secondary
school enrollment
had tripled
by 1975,
and reached
180,899
in 1993;
an additional
15,824 students
were at
teacher
training
colleges.
Comparable
improvements
in university-level
education
have also
occurred.
In 1975,
there were
more than
3,000 students
at the University
of Dar es
Salaam,
a dramatic
increase
over the
enrollment
at independence.
By 1993,
there were
5,500 university-level
students.
The government
of Tanzania
has placed
great importance
on the expansion
of adult
education.
A pilot
scheme began
at Mwanza
in 1968.
A broader
campaign
followed,
assisted
by UNESCO.
These programs
sought not
only to
promote
skills,
like literacy
in Swahili,
but also
were directed
at "consciousness
raising,"
including
principles
of hygiene,
agricultural
techniques,
crafts,
basic mathematics,
and the
principles
of UJAMAA.
By 1971
about 75,000
adults were
participating
in these
courses.
This number
increased
to about
3 million
within two
years. In
1973, the
government
made worker
education
compulsory.
As a result,
literacy
among adult
men in 1984
reached
75%, well
above the
African
average
of 48%.
The literacy
rate has
since gone
down [1]
.
As
one would
expect,
Tanzania's
achievements
in education
have not
survived
the country's
economic
difficulties
unscathed.
Social services,
including
education,
have suffered
from shortages
of financial
resources,
and some
enrollments
have declined.
[1]
Kaplan,
Irving,
ed. 1978.
Tanzania,
A Country
Study,
Foreign
Area Studies,
American
University:
Washington
D.C.