Education in rural Tanzania : The COBET experience

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Education in rural Tanzania The COBET experience

• Addis Ababa,
• 7th - 9th September, 2005.

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Background
COBET

• Universal Primary Education achievement in
  1970s, 1980s (254 increase, Grade
  1(1974-1978)
• - Gross Enrollment Ratio 98
• - 11,290 public facilities
• Mid 1980s 1990s - chronic persistent
  problems in access, quality, resource allocation
  and management
• Accumulation of over-aged school children
  (enrollment at 9.5 years) 4 million
  out-of-school children (source school mapping
  1997-1999)
• Ratification for International treaties,
  including CRC putting child at the centre of
  learning
• National policies for education reform ESDP
  (2000-2015) PEDP (2002-6) Vision 2025 PRS II
  (NSGRP or MKUKUTA)
• Inception of COBET, to cater for out-of-school
  aged children.

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What is COBET?

• Complementing Primary Education
• Child-friendliness in
• - Curriculum,
• - Pedagogy and Facilitation
• (Inter-active, participatory methodology),
• No Fees, School uniform, Caning
• Special Focus on Girls, Vulnerable Children
• Full District and Community Involvement

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COBET Piloting

• 50 COBET Centres in 5 Learning Districts
• 3 year cycle materials developed
• Regular Training of Facilitators
• Learning opportunity for 1,530 Children
• (40 Most Vulnerable Children)
• Best Practices Influenced Quality Improvements in
  Primary Education

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Most vulnerable childrenout of school
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COBET centres Enrollment of orphans and other
vulnerable children
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Implementation
COBET

• Main steps
• School mapping
• Tracer study of out-of-school children
• Needs assessment
• Development of curriculum teaching/learning
  materials
• Identification of premises, teachers/para-professi
  onals, learners
• Establishment of governance structures and
  definition of roles and responsibilities
• Training on the use of curriculum, governance
  structures
• Opening centres
• 2. Partners
• MoEC and its related institutions(TIE, IAE,
  NECTA)
• Communities (including children) in 5 districts
• Local Government (districts)
• Selected NGOs
• UNICEF

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Accessible to hard to reach Children -
Flexible Time Schedule- Second chance to
Drop-outs and Pregnant girls- Less direct costs
(no uniforms, no desks)- Shorter learning
cycle3 Vs 7 years- Responsive Curriculum
(Life-Skills, HIV/AIDS)- Child-centered
approach - Community participation - Safe
environment - Maximum Time on Task
COBET for the Girls Education in rural areas
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Main results
COBET

• COBET Scaling-up through PEDP
• COBET Curriculum for 11-13 year olds
• Change in Location From Centres to Primary
  School Settings
• 1 Registering into Existing Primary Schools
• 2 Setting centres in rural wards
• 3 NGOs, CBOs, FBOs support
• Change in Organization Structures
• From COBET Centre Communities to School
  Communities
• Change in Pedagogy
• From Inter-Active, Participatory by Facilitators
  to Formal Primary School Teachers

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..
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Challenges
COBET

• Quality assurance
• implementation in all 120 districts of Tanzania
  Mainland, given financial, human, physical
  constraints, especially for nomadic children
• - Weak co-ordination between different
  development partners supporting COBET

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Way forward ?
COBET

• Co-ordination mechanism for quality assurance to
  support COBET
• Linkages with on-going development initiatives
  for pre-primary schooling
• Conceptualization and development of
  Complementary Secondary Education In Tanzania
  (COSET).

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Lessons learnt
COBET

• COBET has transformed basic education in Tanzania
  through the participation of children and
  communities residing in rural districts
• 2. By focussing on girls education, ALL children
  acquire minimum quality learning.

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Thank you for listening!!