Secondary Education in Tanzania: Notes on Key Policy Challenges

1
Secondary Education in Tanzania Notes on Key
Policy Challenges

• Suleman Sumra and Rakesh Rajani
• HakiElimu

2
Guiding Questions

• 1. Are our goals clear, consistent and are they
  the most important?
• 2. Will the goals lead to the results we seek?
• Given resource constraints, are our priorities
  the most strategic

3
Context

• Major strides taken since the turn of the
  century, PEDP 2002 2006 SEDP 2004
• Significant Improvements in enrolment
  infrastructure Books and teachers.

4
Five Policy Challenges

• Establish Clear Targets
• Focus on Outcomes, not Inputs
• Teacher and Teacher Support over Infrastructures
• Measuring Success
• Language of Instruction

5
Policy Challenge 1 Establish Clear Targets

• Official Government target Maximum Growth
  scenario with 50 NER by 2009
• medium growth scenario endorsed by the World
  Bank
• Political Target Enroll ALL those who passed
  primary education in 2005 right now Build a
  Secondary School in Each ward

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Effects of Unclear Targets

• Planning for which targets?
• Lack of coherence/coordination between teacher
  training colleges, book provision, libraries and
  laboratories
• Appears to be significant shortfall of resources
  as compared to requirements
• NEED OF A SINGLE, CONSOLIDATED AND COORDINATED
  SET OF TARGETS FOR SECONDARY EDUCATION

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Policy Challenge 2 Focus on outcomes, not Inputs

• Education yes, but for what?
• Focusing on inputs or outputs have different
  policy implications.
• Focus on capabilities what are students able
  to do?
• REVISE POLICY THAT FOCUSES ON THE CAPABILITIES OF
  ITS LEARNERS, THAT FOCUS ON THE SKILLS, ABILITIES
  AND APPTITUDES OF ITS GRADUATES TO THRIVE IN
  THE WORLD AND IN THE NEXT STAGE OF FORMAL
  SCHOOLING

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Policy Challenge 3 Teachers and Teacher Support
over Infrastructure

• Greater clarity needed on the meaning of
  competent teacher of what is expected of all
  teachers and how this will be monitored and
  measured.
• Pre-service and in-service needs to be focused on
  teacher competence
• Teacher welfare need to be comprehensively
  addressed

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Policy Challenge 4 Measuring Success

• Examination have profound effect on how and what
  teachers teach.
• What do exam measure?
• If examinations is what counts examinations
  should count what matters.

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Policy Challenge 5 Language of Instruction

• Disconnect between language of instruction in
  primary and secondary education
• Presumption that primary education will produce
  competencies in English
• Increasing number of private English Medium
  Schools lead to class formation