GTEBORGS UNIVERSITET

School of Global Studies Centre for African Studies

The abolishment of school fees in Tanzania

- A case study of the quality of education

Masters Thesis, Africa and International Development Cooperation Authors: Erik Bjrkdahl and Patrick Lundqvist Supervisor: Erik Andersson Spring, 2006

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this thesis is to examine different educational actors view to what extent the quality of education has been affected since the abolishment of the school fees in primary school. The following questions have been formulated for this study: What have been the effects on the primary education after the abolishment of the school fees? What are the different educational actors views about the quality of education in Tanzania since the abolishment of the school fees? How will the conditions for implementing the PEDP be affected of the abolishment of the school fees? We have used a case study approach including statistical data, interviews, policies from the Tanzanian Government and other published material. The interviews were made during our stay in Tanzania, April 2006. Three interviews took place. The first interview took place at the Swedish embassy with a senior program officer, the second with an employee at Tanzania Teachers Union and the third with a primary school teacher in Dar es Salaam. The results present that in the year 2005 approximately 2.7 million more children were enrolled compared to 2001. The Net Enrolment Ratio in 2001 was 66 percent compared to 94.8 percent in 2005. The Pupil-Teacher Rate increased from 46:1 in 2001 to 59:1 in 2005. We found that the burden for the teachers increased during this period and that the teachers status declined. This had to do with the abolishment of the school fees. There were both negative and positive views regarding the quality of education. However, there were more negative opinions. We also argue that the abolishment of the school fees affected the conditions for implementing PEDP entirely. It seems to us that the quantity have been given higher priority than quality. We also found that everybody we spoke to was positive towards the decision to abolish the school fees in primary school in Tanzania.

ABBREVIATIONS
BEDC CCM EFA ESDP ESR ETP GER IMF MDG MoEC NER NGO PEDP PTR SACMEQ SAP Sida TANU TTU UNESCO UNICEF UPE URT = Basic Education Development Committee = Chama Cha Mapinduzi = Education for All = Education Sector Development Program = Education for Self-Reliance = Education and Training Policy = Gross Enrolment Ratio = International Monetary Fund = Millennium Development Goals = Ministry of Education and Culture = Net Enrolment Ratio = Non-Governmental Organization = Primary Education Development Plan = Pupil-Teacher Rate = Southern & East. Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality = Structural adjustment program = Swedish International Development cooperation Agency = Tanganyika African National Union = Tanzania Teachers Union = United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization = United Nations Childrens Fund = Universal Primary Education = United Republic of Tanzania

CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................ 2 1.3 PURPOSE AND DELIMITATIONS ................................................................................... 2 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .............................................................................. 3 2.1 QUALITY OF THE TEACHERS ....................................................................................... 3 2.2 QUALITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS .............................................. 4 3. METHOD ...................................................................................................................... 6 3.1 VALUATION OF THE SOURCES ..................................................................................... 8 4. PREVIOUS RESEARCH............................................................................................. 8 5. TANZANIA ................................................................................................................. 10 5.1 HISTORY .................................................................................................................. 10 6. EMPIRICAL CHAPTER........................................................................................... 13 6.1 CASE OF STATISTICS ................................................................................................ 13 6.2 CASE OF TANZANIA GOVERNMENT - EDUCATION AND TRAINING POLICY ............... 18 6.2.1 History and background of the policy.............................................................. 18 6.2.2 Main aims and objectives................................................................................. 20 6.2.3 System and structure of education and training .............................................. 20 6.2.4 Access and equity............................................................................................. 20 6.2.5 Management and administration ..................................................................... 21 6.2.6 Formal education and training........................................................................ 22 6.2.7 School curricula, examinations and certification............................................ 22 6.2.8 ESDP................................................................................................................ 23 6.2.9 PEDP ............................................................................................................... 23 6.3 CASE OF THE INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................ 24 6.4 CASE OF THE NGO HAKIELIMU AND THEIR VIEW ON PEDP .................................... 34 7. ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................. 38 8. CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................... 46 REFERENCES................................................................................................................ 49

FIGURES AND TABLES

FIGURES
Figure 6.1 Standard I VII Enrolment in Primary Schools, 1995 2005. s.13

Figure 6.2 Total Enrolment, Population and Enrolment Ratios (GER and NER) in Primary Schools, 1995 2005. s. 14

Figure 6.3 Budgetary Allocation to Education Sector by Education levels 1995/96 2004/05 s. 16

TABLES
Table 6.1 Primary Schools Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) by Sex and Gender Parity Index (GPI), 1995-2005. s. 15 Table 6.2 Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), Results 1998 2004. s. 15

Table 6.3 Females Enrolment as Percentage of Total Enrolment by Grade and Level in Primary Education. s. 16

Table 6.4 Pupil Teacher Ratio 1999-2004. s. 17

Table 6.5 PEDP Enrolment Related Targets 2002-2006. s. 17

1. INTRODUCTION
Around the world today there are about 100 million children who do not have the opportunity to attend primary school (Development Gateway 2004). In the year 1990 United Nations declared eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and these goals are supposed to be fulfilled in the year 2015. The second MDG is Achieve universal primary education Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality (United Nations Statistics Division 2006). The same year a conference was arranged in Jomtien, Thailand. About 150 representatives from countries and organizations all over the world came together and held the World Conference on Education for All. The main goals were to universalize the primary education and decrease the illiteracy worldwide before the new decade was entered (UNESCO 2001). In the year 2000, i.e. ten years later, the World Education Forum was held in Dakar, Senegal. The forum was a follow up from the Jomtien-conference. The forum members introduced the concept Dakar Framework for Action and the main goal to achieve Education for All at year 2015. The co-ordination of all international players was handed over to UNESCO (UNESCO 2000, p. 3). In Sub-Saharan Africa it is estimated that only 60 percent of boys and 56 percent of girls attend school. It is education that will provide the next generation with the tools to fight poverty and conquer disease (UNICEF 2006). Consequently, with the low outcome of educated people it is almost impossible to eradicate poverty. HIV/AIDS, malaria e.g. are well-known diseases that have a negative relation to schooling. User fees for primary education have been a part of the structural adjustment program package that IMF and World Bank once introduced. Children going to school are one step in the direction to fight poverty and to save lives. In the year 2000 the U.S. Congress stated with a policy that projects and loans from organizations like IMF and World Bank, which include the advocacy of user fees, should come to an end (Robert Weissman 2000).

1.2 Background In the end of 2001 the school fees of primary school were abolished by the Tanzanian Government (UNESCO 2003). A policy was founded in 1995 to improve education and training in Tanzania. This policy, the Education and Training Policy (ETP), was the guiding principle for the whole educational system (ESDP, April 2003). In 1999 the Tanzanian Government introduced a first version of an Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP). The previous policies and plans that had been formulated were now to be implemented by the Tanzanian Government. Its overall objective is to provide for increased gender-balanced and equitable access to higher quality basic education with the following priorities: i) priority on basic education; ii) improvement in secondary school opportunities; iii) demand-driven and marketoriented post-secondary and higher education; and iv) institutional development to improve sector management and to strengthen capacity to monitor progress. (URT 2002, p. 11). A constituent of the ESDP is the Primary Education Development Plan (PEDP). The purpose with PEDP is to expand the enrolment and improve the quality. (ESDP, April 2003). Sweden has supported Tanzania with aid in more than 40 years and education has been a priority area for Sida in the development cooperation with Tanzania (Sida 2006). Anders Nrman points out that: There is an absolute relationship between a quantitative expansion and the ability to uphold quality. One obvious expression of this relationship is the need for qualified teachers in the schools. (Nrman and Ewald. 2001, p. 325). 1.3 Purpose and delimitations The purpose of this thesis is to examine different educational actors view to what extent the quality of education has been affected since the abolishment of the school fees in primary school. The following questions have been formulated for this study: What have been the effects on the primary education of the abolishment of the school fees? What are the different educational actors views about the quality of education in Tanzania since the abolishment of the school fees?

How will the conditions for implementing the PEDP be affected of the abolishment of the school fees?

The main focus for our thesis will be on the primary school sector in Tanzania. This study is not limited to a particular region or district, thus we have a view of Tanzania in general. How the abolishment of the school fees affects the international development cooperation and its work will not be considered. Similarly we do not intend to discuss the abolishment of school fees in the democracy aspect. Gender is a major issue itself and will therefore not be entirely analyzed; however it will be taken under consideration. We think that the concept of quality might differ between the actors. We also have decided to examine the quality concept within the context of primary education in Tanzania.

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The theoretical framework will be based on discussion about the concept of quality of education. It will be impossible for us to include all the different views of this subject in our thesis. We have therefore chosen to present the views on quality of education that is most relevant according to us. We have found a lot of research that emphasize the importance of educated and satisfied teachers as well as good school environment. Therefore the theoretical framework is divided into two parts, quality of the teachers and quality of the environment in primary schools. 2.1 Quality of the teachers Dr. Joan Freeman works at the Institute of Education at University of London and received her doctorate in child psychology from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. Freeman has been writing numerous of books and scientific papers regarding the area of the quality of education. Freeman stresses the teachers role for high quality in education. Freeman accentuates the importance of teachers for high quality in education for children to be able to join the society. The goal should be a higher quality for all rather than a sense of equal

opportunity for all. Freeman believes that a sense of equal opportunity for all is a vague idea with no specified standards (Freeman 1992, p. 175). Freeman points out that around the world teachers are questioning their profession due to lack of respect. The consequence of this is that teachers ability to produce new ideas starts to decrease and they feel that they approach the back to basics. Freeman stresses that when teachers in the classroom get hold of professional competence it is a starting point in educating children and improving their competence. Another factor that Freeman mentions is the teacher salaries. Higher salaries are not always the right solution for encouraging teachers to keep on working, but of course there are parts in the world where teachers are poorly paid, the living condition can affect their satisfaction. The living condition for teachers can vary but there are situations where they have to live in houses with leaking roofs, dirty washrooms, tattered exercise books etc. (Freeman 1992, p. 176). 2.2 Quality of the environment in primary schools The UN-organisation UNESCO introduced the EFA 2000 Assessment in order to enable countries to introduce their own EFA goals. The purpose with EFA is to make sure that countries can offer basic education (UNESCO 2006). In the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005 (Colclough et al 2005a, p. 29) put forth two key elements that define the concept of quality of education: 1. The importance that the students are being able to improve their cognitive development. 2. The importance that the students are being able to improve their creative and emotional development. There have been studies at micro level in development countries that emphasize the relation between cognitive achievement and school expenditure, teacher education and school facilities (Colclough et al. 2005b, p. 2). A good medium for student achievement is a high-level of teacher subject knowledge (Darling-Hammond 2000 cited Colclough et al 2005a, p.112). Per Settergren has worked both as a teacher and a school inspector in Stockholm, Sweden. In Settergrens book Bttre Skola a definition of quality in school is put

together from teacher and principal opinions. That is good characteristics that exist in the school activity, intended for the pupils and their parents (Settergren 2003, p. 16). We want to highlight these characteristics as our main guideline in our thesis. The following characteristics are not in any order of precedence priority: Security and comfort The ethical foundations of the curriculum Pupils influence and responsibility Dialogue Stimulation of the intellect, imagination and emotion

Security and comfort is a prerequisite and the starting point for a successful school. A school without security and comfort will in the future not be able to succeed with other missions. An open and trustful relation between children and adults, pupils and staff in school is necessary to achieve this. Therefore the teachers social competence has a great significance to create a harmonious working environment (Settergren 2003, p. 17). The pupils should be fostered according to the ethical foundations of the curriculum. This is important, so that the pupils respect the teacher and each other. As the teachers are raw models for their pupils, their behavior has importance in fostering process. The teachers way of greeting their pupils could for example be a part in fostering. The content of the subject should include the ethical foundation, and that is the components that education is based on (Settergren 2003, p. 18). Pupils influence and responsibility is another important characteristic. The pupils will feel more comfortable if they have more influence and given responsibility in their schoolwork (Settergren 2003, p. 18). Dialogue with the pupils is the best way to make them participate and also enable them to gain greater knowledge. The context is often better understood in the dialogue (Settergren 2003, p. 19). Stimulation of the intellect, imagination and emotion is an important characteristic that the school must provide for the pupils. If not, the pupils will have a hard time to be able to develop their capacity to solve difficult assignments. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers, increases the possibility for transferring the interest to the

pupils. If the pupils are given stimulating assignments, they will develop their cognitive capacity (Settergren 2003, p. 19-20). The theory has been used when formulating the interview guide. Our theoretical framework has also been discussed and connected with the empirical chapter in the analysis. This will further be explained in the method.

3. METHOD
Since we use a case-study approach, we use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Therefore analysis of text, statistical data and interviews are suitable types of data for our thesis. To be able to do a case-study there must be at least two units (Esaiasson et al. 2005, p. 119-120). The empirical chapter will be divided into four units representing the various cases: the interviews, the NGO HakiElimu, statistics concerning primary education and Tanzanian Government policy regarding education. The statistics will help to give a clearer view of the situation and show the signification of the changes. The figures and tables in the statistical part are taken from HakiElimu and MoEC. Interview with the primary school teacher and the employee at TTU will be in form of respondent interviews. Respondent interviews are being used when interviewing people who participate in the phenomenon (Holme and Solvang 1997, p. 104). Their immediate roles have been important and valuable for us. We have also used an informant interview. This is in contrast to the respondent interview, people who knows a lot about the phenomena but is not a participant (Holme and Solvang 1997, p. 104). We argue that the personal at Sida is not a participant because of their role as a donor. Therefore the interview with the senior program officer at Sida is an informant interview. We will use a general interview guide approach (Esaiasson et al. 2005, p. 290). This will give us some freedom and flexibility but also makes sure that we can obtain information from our general areas.

Our questions in the interview guide are based on our theory, where we aimed at formulating questions related to the indicators in the theory. In our theory we have five indicators regarding the classroom situation that we associate with the quality of education. For every indicator we have included about three or four questions. We started the interviews with simple questions like for example What is your position at your work? The reason for this is to create a comfortable atmosphere for the respondent and for ourselves during the interview. After these questions we used grandtour-questions, which are questions where the respondent can be able to evolve the answers and express them selves freely. We also used follow up questions in order to receive more extensive answers. In the end we sometimes used direct questions when we felt that some information relating to our thesis was missing. The different sources could contribute with different parts of information that eventually put the puzzle together (Esaiasson et al. 2005, p. 253). In our view, by interviewing the relevant people we have attained more up to date information. Furthermore, there is a possibility to receive information that has not been published. Interviewing several actors in different positions and organizations will enhance the possibility to get more valid results. Both primary and secondary sources have been used (Bjrk 2003, p. 231). For the primary sources, we have interviewed a program officer at Sida, a primary school teacher and the head of education and training department at TTU. The interviews took place during our three weeks visit in Tanzania in April 2006. Secondary sources have been used and this includes information from the Internet, academic literature, newspaper, journal articles etc. An important tool we used during the interviews was a tape recorder. This helped us to once again go back and find important information (Esaiasson et al. 2005, p. 294). During the interview we also took notes which we soon afterwards put together while we still had the information up to date. This will increase the reliability of the thesis.

3.1 Valuation of the sources The authors Freeman and Settergren in our theoretical framework both have comprehensive experience from the field of education. Freeman holds a doctor degree in child psychology and has many years of experience as a teacher. Settergren is a teacher and has worked as a school inspector for many years. We want to stress that there is a lot of literature and researches regarding quality of education that have not been covered. Therefore there is a possibility that important theories have not been reflected. Regarding the interviews there is always a risk for misunderstandings, not at least when a foreign language is used. The interview with the teacher and the employee at TTU is likely to be more critical to the Governments ways of treating teachers compared to someone who is independent. Therefore it is possible that they enhance some parts more than others. The interview with the employee at Sida could also have some obligations in his role as a donor. The Tanzanian NGO, HakiElimu, has the capacity as an NGO to be critical towards the Government. When it comes to sources from the Internet one should know that anyone can present information in anyway they want. Therefore we carefully have examined the sources.

4. PREVIOUS RESEARCH
There are numerous studies carried out regarding the quality of education and the effects of school fees. Since we are concentrating on Tanzania in general, it is interesting to get a perspective with a closer look on researches done at a district level. Beniamin Knutsson is a student at Vxj University in Sweden and did his masters degree in Peace and Development at School of Social Sciences. The topic for his thesis is Education for All or Enrolment for All? Knutsson did his research in the Geita district in Tanzania during the spring 2005 and his aim with the thesis was to see what implementation efforts with EFA could achieve in a Tanzanian context. His specific objective is to examine how a substantial quantitative expansion of pupil enrolment affects primary school education in qualitative terms. In Knutssons conclusion in general there have been several changes being done in a positive way but the negative approach is more noticeable. The positive improvements that have been done is for

example building of new classrooms, more ownership in the communities, more availability of books, more children attending to schools and the drop-out rate is moving down. The PEDP has been criticized among the respondents and the way it has been used. The lack of infrastructure is one main problem of the increasing number of children in schools. Knutsson also mention that there is an imbalance regarding the recruitment of teachers from the geographic point of view. Teachers in village schools obtain other problems relating to the increase of enrolment. In technical and practical subjects like science, there is a lack of material resources that comes with the enrolment. There has also been an increase of repetitions in Std. 1-4. Knutsson points out in the main conclusion that Geita is still far from the global EFA target of UPE with good quality, but they are close to Enrolment for all but hardly to Education for all. Ms. Dinah Richard Mmbaga carried out a PhD dissertation titled, The Inclusive Classroom in Tanzania Dream or Reality? at Stockholm University and Institute of International Education. The case study was done during a four year period between 1996 and 1999. Mmbaga did her study research in Kazimkazi primary school at Same District, Kilimanjaro Region. The study was about challenges to basic education in Tanzania and about learning, especially about the relationships between teachers and pupils in the classroom and if the relationships created in the classroom enhanced or constrained effective learning. The views of teachers, parents and children were studied as well as the macro context. The results show that policies and organizational structures are very important for creating good conditions for learning. The curriculum in primary school was not in line with the local reality. The teaching in the school was far from satisfying perhaps due to the pressure of large classes and to complete syllabuses in time to the final exams. According to the results, the children in school were given different labels and the ones referred to as problem children were often given less attention. The author suggest that some criteria must be fulfilled if effective learning is going to take place; Better communication between teachers and parents. Before reforms and changes are introduced thorough preparation is needed in order to make sure that all parties are aware of their new roles. The reality of the local community must be taken into account when the

curriculum is appointed. Mmbaga ends the conclusion with the words Indeed, inclusion is no more a dream. However, it is far from becoming a reality (Mmbaga 2002, p. 201). With our study we want to contribute to the research on education in Tanzania. Neither of the authors named above has been discussing the abolishment of school fees in the way we intend to do. Before presenting our empirical material, a short presentation of Tanzania will follow.

5. TANZANIA
Tanzania is situated in eastern Africa bordering the Indian Ocean and its neighbor countries are Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Tanzania is divided into 26 regions and the capital city is Dodoma but Dar es Salaam is still a central and an important city for ministries and other offices. The population is estimated to 37.5 million people. The age structure of the population is; 0 to 14 years 43.7 %, 15 to 64 years 53.6 % and 65 and above 2.6 %. Swahili and English is the official languages and literacy among the population regarding male is 85.9 % and female 70.7 % (CIA 2006). 5.1 History Tanganyika and Zanzibar became a union in 1964 and formed the United Republic of Tanzania. From the year 1945 Tanganyika belonged to United Nations Trusteeship under British rule and became independent in 1961. The development of TANU (Tanganyika African National Union) became the first party in the 1950s and in 1960s they won the political trust of the people. A year after independence, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere became the first prime minister in Tanganyika (Tanzania Government, 2006). Julius Kambarage Nyerere was born in 1922. Mwalimu Nyerere started his career as a teacher and later on he became a politician and founder member of the TANU. He was also the founder member and chairman of Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). CCM was a fusion of TANU and Afro-Shiraz Party of Zanzibar which was formed in 1977. The word Mwalimu is the Swahili word for teacher. Nyerere went to Makerere University in Uganda and received a Teacher Diploma and he also received a Master of Arts degree at

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Edinburgh University in Scotland. The respect of Nyerere is the reason why he today is honored as the Mwalimu and as the father of the nation. Between 1964 and 1985 Mwalimu Nyerere held the post as the president for the Republic of Tanzania (South Centre 2006). The time Nyerere became president in 1964, Tanzania had major problems and he had a tough assignment to get his country back on track, which was in deep crisis and was one of the poorest countries in the world. His strategy was to introduce socialism and communal life. This socialism was a mixture of agriculture, villigization (Ujamaa) and large-scale nationalization. The word Ujamaa became an important strategy for Nyerere. Ujamaa is the Kiswahili word for family hood and Nyerere wanted his people to live and work in a co-operative way so it could extend the traditional values and responsibilities in Tanzania. Nyerere believed in his new socialism which he said was people-centered. Health, education and political identity were some areas that succeeded when it was focused on human development and self-reliance. Nyerere had two main headings regarding his educational philosophy and it was education for selfreliance and adult education and lifelong learning and education for liberation. In Nyereres vision Education for Self-Reliance he stated that education should promote equality, foster co-operation and to work for the common good. He also stated that when planning and decision-making process should be done, it has to engage both teachers and students. Some of the educational reforms succeeded and some failed. Nyerere gave up the Presidency in 1985 and he died in London on 14 October 1999 (Hartford Web Publishing 2006). After Nyereres retirement in 1985, Ali Hassan Mwinyi became the new president of Tanzania. Mwinyi was against the socialism that Nyerere once introduced and was more into private sector development and relaxed on import restrictions. Between 1990 and 1995 he also became chairman of the ruling party CCM (Answers 2006). In the beginning of the 1980s Tanzania liberalized its economy and in 1986 an agreement was signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Tanzania introduced the structural adjustment program (SAP) after the agreement with IMF and the World Bank. After being at the presidency during two terms, Ali Hussein Mwinyi was succeeded by Benjamin William Mkapa in 1995. Mkapa continued with the liberalization of the

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economy and privatized most of the state owned corporations under his presidency. Even he became the chairman for CCM during his time as president. In 1995 Tanzania introduced the multiparty system but CCM still have the majority of the votes (Wikipedia 2006). In December 2005 Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete became the fourth president of Tanzania and the chairman of CCM.

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6. EMPIRICAL CHAPTER
The empirical chapter starts with a presentation of statistical data regarding the primary education in Tanzania. The next part is the interviews. The answers from the respondents and the informant have been put together according to the related questions that we asked. Thereafter follows a presentation of the Tanzanian Government Education and Training policies. At last we presented some thoughts from the Tanzanian NGO HakiElimu. 6.1 Case of Statistics The statistical data includes figures and tables and gives a clearer picture regarding the primary education.

Figure 6.1 Standard I VII Enrolment in Primary Schools, 1995 2005

8000000 7000000 6000000

Pupils 5000000
4000000 3000000 2000000 1000000 0
Enrolment 1995 3877643 1996 3942888 1997 4057965 1998 4042568 1999 4189816 2000 4382410 2001 4881588 2002 5981338 2003 6562772 2004 7083063 2005 7541208

Source: Ministry of Education and Culture (2005b)

The chart above shows that the increase of pupils enrolled in primary school had its peak with about 1.1 million children in year 2002. In the end of 2001 the Government abolished the school fees in primary school. It has been followed by a steady increase since then. Between the year 1995 and 2005 the enrolment nearly doubled.

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Figure 6.2 Total Enrolment, Population and Enrolment Ratios (GER and NER) in Primary Schools, 1995 - 2005
Total Enrolment, Population and Enrolment Ratios (GER and NER) in Primary Schools, 1995 - 2005

120 100
GER & NER

80 60 40 20 0
year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Tot. Gd I- 3 877 643 3 942 888 4 057 965 4 042 568 4 189 816 4 382 410 4 845 185 5 972 077 6 562 772 7 083 063 7 541 208 VII Pop 713yrs 4996963 5 067 979 5 209 198 5 279 500 5 427 156 5 646 293 5 743 255 6 054 257 6 229 830 6 665 347 6 859 282 2 853 272 56,3 77,8 2 953 615 56,7 77,9 2 994 027 56,7 76,6 3 098 846 57,1 77,2 3 309 977 3 790 622 4 884 385 5 515 793 6 034 526 6 499 581 58,6 77,6 66,0 84,4 80,7 98,6 88,5 105,3 90,5 106,3 94,8 109,9

7-13yrs in 2 768 317 Gd I-VII NER GER 55,4 77,6

Source: Ministry of Education and Culture (2005b)

NER stands for Net Enrolment Ratio and is the number of pupils in the official age group for a given level of education enrolled in that level expressed as a percentage of the total population in that age group. GER stands for Gross Enrolment Ratio and is the number of pupils enrolled in a given level of education, regardless of age, expressed as percentage of the population in relevant official age group. In the year 2005 the NER was 94.8 percent and if the trend continues they will reach 100 percent within a couple of years. The GER has since the year 2003 exceeded 100 percent indicating that there are overage pupils enrolled in primary school. Between the year 2000 and 2005 the NER has increased with 36 percent units which is a remarkable change in such a short time period.

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Table 6.1 Primary Schools Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) by Sex and Gender Parity Index (GPI), 1995-2005 Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Male 55,9 55,9 58,1 56,0 56,4 58,6 65,8 82,1 90,4 91,4 95,6 Female 54,8 56,7 57,2 57,3 57,8 59,1 65,2 79,3 86,7 89,7 93,9 Total 55,4 56,3 56,7 56,7 57,1 58,8 65,5 80,7 88,5 90,5 94,8 GPI 0,98 1,01 0,98 1,02 1,02 1,01 0,99 0,97 0,96 0,98 0,98

Source: Ministry of Education and Culture (2005b)

The table above shows that the relation between boys and girls has been fairly equal since 1995. It is noticeable that the proportion of girls has decreased somewhat in the last five years. In 1996 and the period between 1998 and 2000 there were more girls than boys enrolled in primary schools. Table 6.2 Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), Results 1998 2004.

Year
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Candidates Sat
364,014 426,569 389,746 444,903 492,472 490,018 499,241

Passed
77,444 82,419 85,576 127,351 133,674 196,273 243,045

% Passed
21,3 19,3 22,0 28,6 27,1 40,1 48,7

Source: HakiElimu (2003)

The table above presents the results from the primary school leaving examination. Between the year 2002 and 2003 there is prominent improvement of the pass rate where there is an increase of 48 percent. In 2004 the examination results has increased with about 130 percent compared to the year 1998. In 2003 a reform was implemented regarding the examination tests. Mathematics was given less importance while languages

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on the other hand were given more significance. Traditionally the primary school pupils have performed better in languages.

Table 6.3 Females Enrolment as Percentage of Total Enrolment by Grade and Level in Primary Education EDUCATIONAL LEVEL STD I STD VII STD I - VII
Source: Ministry of Education and Culture (2005b)

1982 50,1 44,5 48,3

1987 48,5 50,4 49,8

1992 48,6 49,3 49,1

2003 48,5 49,9 48,7

2005 49,6 48,8 48,9

The table above presents that the proportion of girls have been fairly even since 1982. However, this does not say anything about the equality in the classroom.

Figure 6.3 Budgetary Allocation to Education Sector by Education levels 1995/96 2004/05

600 000 500 000 Mill. Shs. 400 000 300 000 200 000 100 000 Financial year
Education Sector Primary & Non- Formal Secondary Educ Teacher Educ. Tertiary and Higher Educ.

1995/96 76 504 51 602 6 608 1 458 16 836

1996/97 92 631 63 519 7 838 1 954 19 320

1997/98 102 343 68 896 7 894 2 639 22 914

1998/99 107 457 78 000 7 857 2 600 19 000

1999/00 138 583 92 845 10 492 2 752 32 494

2000/01 218 051 144 658 21 453 5 261 46 679

2001/02 323 864 236 618 24 359 5 872 57 015

2002/03 396 780 289 718 29 876 6 646 70 540

2003/04 487 729 361 425 32 464 7 700 86 140

2004/05 504 745 322 196 92 045 6 189 84 315

Source: Ministry of Education and Culture (2005b)

The chart above shows that the amount of money allocated to the educational sector has increased steadily during the last ten years. The same could be said about the money

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transferred to the primary school sector apart from the year 2004/05 when there was a decrease compared to the previous year.

Table 6.4 Pupil Teacher Ratio 1999-2004 Year Number of Pupils Number of Teachers Pupil Teacher Ratio 1999 4,182,677 103,731 2000 4,370,500 107,111 2001 4,875,764 105,921 2002 5,960,368 112,109 2003 6,531,769 114,660 2004 7,041,829 119,773
Source: HakiElimu (2004)

40:1 41:1 46:1 53:1 57:1 59:1

We can see in the table that the number of pupils per teacher has increased with almost 50 percent since 1999. This indicates that the recruitment of new teachers has not been able to keep up with the enrolment expansion.

Table 6.5 PEDP Enrolment Related Targets 2002-2006 Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Totals Std 1 admissions New teacher recruitments New classroom construction 1,500,000 9,047 13,868 1,600,000 11,651 13,396 1,640,969 10,563 14,203 1,041,880 7,286 6,794 1,065,843 7,249 5,832 6,848,692 45,796 54,093

Source: HakiElimu (2003)

The table above shows that the recruitment of teachers has decreased in the last two years. It is striking that there has been more classrooms built compared to the recruitment of teachers.

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6.2 Case of Tanzania Government - Education and Training Policy This chapter presents an extract from the Education and Training Policy (ETP) that was published in 1995 by the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Tanzanian Government. The first part of this chapter will present the history and background of the Education and Training Policy. The structure in this part is divided into different headlines which are taken from the ETP. In the second part it will concentrate on the outcome from what the policy is saying regarding the quality of the primary school. In the third part there will be a short overview of the ESDP and a more detailed presentation of the PEDP. 6.2.1 History and background of the policy Education in Tanzanians intend for strengthening its good citizenship, the acquisition of life skills and the perpetuation of valued customs and traditions. In the year 1962, after independence, the first Education Act passed and it replaced the Education Ordinance from year 1927 (MoEC 1995, s. i). After the Education Act of 1962 was introduced, there were several acts that passed. The Education Act of 1969, the Decentralization Program of 1972, the National Examinations Council Act No. 21 of 1973, the Universal Primary Education and the Musoma Resolution in 1974, the Institute of adult Education Act No. 12 of 1975 and the Institute of Education Act No. 13 of 1975. These acts were involved to change laws and to constitute different actions from the outcome at the Arusha Declaration in 1967 with the Education on Self-Reliance (ESR) (MoEC 1995, s. ii). Education Act No. 25 was passed in the year 1978 and the purpose for this was to legalize those changes in the education from the outcome of the acts between 1967 and 1978 (MoEC 1995, s. iv). A review of the existing education system was done in the year 1981 and a Presidential Commission on Education was appointed. This review was mentioned to assure that the policies were heading in the right direction towards the year 2000 (MoEC 1995, s. vi). A National Task Force on Education was constituted by the Tanzanian Government in the year 1990. This National Task Force was introduced to review, prepare and make the Education System suitable for the 21st Century. The outcome of the report from the Task Force should be

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used for consideration and recommendation when formulating the Tanzania Education and Training Policy (TETP).

All changes in education between 1961 to-date were aimed at improving the quality of education and strengthening the link between education provided at all levels and social and economic development of Tanzania (MoEC 1995, s. vii-viii). There are eight main objectives that deal with formal and non-formal education in Tanzania at all levels, and these are quoted from the ETP (MoEC 1995, s. xi-xiii): Enhancement of partnership in the provision of education and training, through the deliberate efforts of encouraging private agencies to participate in the provision of education, to establish and manage schools and other educational institutions at all levels. Identification of critical priority areas to concentrate on, for the purpose of creating an enabling environment for private agencies to participate in the provision of education, such as, the training of more and better teachers. Broadening of the financial base for education and training, through more effective control of government spending, cost sharing and liberalization strategies. Streamlining of the management structure of education, by placing more authority and responsibility on schools, local communities, districts and regions. Emphasizing the provision of quality education, through curriculum review, improved teacher management and introduction and use of appropriate performance and assessment strategies. Strengthening the integration of formal and non-formal education relationship, by instituting points knowledge comparability and inter-mobility within the subsectors of education. Increasing access to education, by focusing on the equity issue with respect to women, disadvantaged groups and areas in the country.

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Facilitating the growth of the culture of education-for-job-creation and self employment through increased availability of opportunities for vocational education and training.

6.2.2 Main aims and objectives The first chapter in the ETP contains the main aims and objectives regarding education and training in general. It points out that the primary school is of great importance. At primary school the children begin to strengthen themselves both ethically and morally, and the socio-cultural foundation is being laid for the Tanzanian people and the nation. The primary education is where children receive their basic skills to advance in to secondary school and to higher education. Scientific and technological literacy and capacity are factors that ETP points out are of importance for personal and national development (MoEC 1995, s. 4-5). 6.2.3 System and structure of education and training The second chapter points out how the system and the structure of education are working. Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education and the Prime Ministers Office (Department of Regional Administration and Local Government) are the main ministries and where education is undertaken with other ministries (MoEC 1995, s. 11). The coordination of the ministries, the NonGovernmental Organizations, communities and individuals are involved concerning the formal and non-formal education. The primary school in Tanzania is a seven year education and it is compulsory in enrollment and attendance (MoEC 1995, s. 13). 6.2.4 Access and equity Access to education for people and the equity of the resources should be distributed and allocated in a fair way. The improvement of the quality of education and training is now the biggest issue. The education is expanding and to meet the demands, it has to provide these services. It also means that the average per capita education cost is increasing and that has to be controlled and that the capital will flow into the sector (MoEC 1995, s. 17). The Government has stated that access to primary education should be a basic right and at the age of seven. All children shall go to school because primary education is universal

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and compulsory and that they will attend and fulfill the education (MoEC 1995, s. 18). Primary education should allow more girls to have access to school. Girls attending school starts raising slowly and due to this the family traditions differ through the nation. This means that in some families girls get married and pregnant at a very young age. This is some of the reasons why the drop-out rates for girls are so high (MoEC 1995, s. 19). The curriculum, textbooks and classroom practices should help with the eradication of gender stereotyping in the education and school system. (MoEC 1995, s. 20). 6.2.5 Management and administration The ETP says that the management and administration in the school system are vital to achieve good quality in education and training. At the moment there are several ministries, parastatal organizations and NGOs who are responsible for the management and therefore a review must be done, because the coordination in education and training is not working as an institutional mechanism (MoEC 1995, s. 23). The Government always got the monopoly over the provision and management of formal school. A need of greater coordination and liberalization, expansion and qualitative improvements has been envisaged regarding the primary school. There is a need of a decentralized management (MoEC 1995, s. 25). The districts, regions and the communities in Tanzania have been asking to get more power of the administration and management within their areas of jurisdiction. There is also a need of more educational institutions when the education management system is being decentralized (MoEC 1995, s. 26). School inspection is a useful method for monitoring the school system. The use of inspectors in order to overview curriculums, the delivery of education and monitor that education is being efficient and that the quality is considered (MoEC 1995, s. 30). The quality of the teaching force is an important aspect regarding the quality of education. The working conditions are of huge importance so that teachers can perform and be satisfied what they are doing. Problems for the teaching force do exist in Tanzania. The salaries are low and irregular, lack of proper housing; inadequate teaching facilities and the teacher status is low among other. The Government must review the terms of service and working conditions for all teachers. Teachers should also be

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registered and licensed and that they have a professional qualification (MoEC 1995, s. 31-32). 6.2.6 Formal education and training The primary school system starts with Standard One and ends with Standard Seven. At primary school the pupils get hold of vital life qualities from an ethical and moral point of view (MoEC 1995, s. 35-36). When Tanzania introduced Education for All the schools expanded and the enrollment started to rise. The dependence on the Government is still high when speaking about the establishment, financing and management. Children at primary school age should all be enrolled and attended to school. There is also a requirement of better school facilities such as desks, educational equipment, libraries and instructional materials and these are vital requirements for good quality education. The ETP point out the lack of exercise books, textbooks and teachers guides is a major problem in the primary schools (MoEC 1995, s. 37-38). The minimum to become a qualified primary school teacher is a valid Grade A Teacher Education Certificate. The lessons should be held in Kiswahili and English will be a compulsory subject (MoEC 1995, s. 38). There is a need of new teachers colleges. This is because of the increasing enrollment in primary school and there is a need of new teachers. The problem is that the Government can not afford to build new colleges (MoEC 1995, s. 46-47). The teachers quality and professional competence are factors that are important regarding the efficiency and improving the quality at primary education. The entry qualifications must therefore be raised by the Government (MoEC 1995, s. 48). 6.2.7 School curricula, examinations and certification The existence of a curriculum in the school system is a must. Curriculum has four dimensions: the aims and objectives dimension, subject matter dimension, activities dimension and assessment dimension. The curriculum should include and concentrate on the teaching of languages, science and technology, humanities and life skills. Language is vital for everyone to communicate and this is where the access to cognitive skills, knowledge, technologies, attitudes and values can be obtained. Kiswahili and English should be encouraged throughout the education system. Science and technology are 22

important subjects regarding the socio-economic development for countries like Tanzania (MoEC 1995, s. 52). Skills in carpentry, crop and livestock husbandry, pottery making, smithing (act or art of working or forging metals), masonry (stonework), painting, home economics and technical skills should be included in the curriculum. This is for strengthen the basic life skills for the Tanzanian people (MoEC 1995, s. 54). In the primary school in Tanzania there are two examinations, at end of Std. IV and Std. VII. In the first examination at Std. IV it is meant to measure the ability of the pupils to handle the three Rs, (reading, riting and rithematic). The results from the examinations can therefore be used for promotion and repetition. The examination in the end of Std. VII is the leaving examination and where pupils get selected to advance for secondary education. All the results from the leaving examinations in primary school should be certified and be public (MoEC 1995, s. 58). 6.2.8 ESDP When the ETP was published in 1995 there was a need of a review of the education sector before entering the 21st century. The Government adopted a sector-wide approach and therefore the ESDP was introduced. The ESDP is a mixture of different actors, like key stakeholders, using pooled human, financial and material resources. The actors should therefore work with planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the education sector. The aim of this assemble is to strengthen the ownership and to promote partnership where people are involved with education. The ESDP is therefore using the ETP objectives (BEDC 2001, s. 3). 6.2.9 PEDP The Primary Education Development Plan is a constituent of the ESDP and has four main strategic priorities: enrolment expansion, quality improvement, capacity building and optimizing human material and financial resource utilization (BEDC 2001, s. 4). Enrolment expansion is the most important target in the PEDP. One of the strategies is to abolish the school fees. The plan is to recruit new teachers and build new classrooms as well as use existing teachers and classrooms in a more effective way. The PTR should be 45:1 (BEDC 2001, s. 4-5).

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Regarding the quality improvement there are three main components. These are to improve the teachers way of teaching in the classroom, availability of materials and maintaining support for educational standards (BEDC 2001, s. 9). Capacity building is the third policy that should be strengthened. The most important factors regarding this issue are the decentralization process and increasing the efficiency in the different Governmental institutions (BEDC 2001, s. 11). The fourth and the last policy in the PEDP contain reforms to improve the human and material aspects (BEDC 2001, s. 15). 6.3 Case of the interviews This chapter presents the information from the three interviews. This information has been sorted on the basis of our questions. This will make it easier for the reader to get an overview. We have also chosen to add some quotations we find significant. Here follows a short presentation of the people we interviewed. The primary school teacher we interviewed teaches in a governmental school in Dar es Salaam. The teachers own education comprises secondary school up to form four at Kibaha and an received a Education Diploma at MANTEP college in Bagamoyo. MANTEP is a two year course called Management Administration Training Education Personnel Institute. Anthony Mtavangu work at Tanzania Teachers Union (TTU) as the head of education and training department. The organization was founded in November 1993 and there is about 135 000 members. The overall objective for the organization is to protect the members rights, social welfare and their professional integrity. TTU also advocate for quality of education and work as a watchdog. The third interview was with Hans Persson who is working as a senior program officer at the Swedish Embassy in Dar es Salaam. He has been working for Sida since august 2003 with these questions related to education.

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What is the pupil/teacher-rate in Tanzania now? Has the pupil/teacher-rate changed in the last ten years and what do you think the reasons are for this? Anthony Mtavangu states that the average ratio in PTR is 1:57 right now. Mtavangu says that there is other information collected from the field showing that situation varies from school to school and at some places, it is 75:1 up to 250:1. He said that The teacherpupil rate is better now than ten years ago when it was above 1:80. Hans Persson explains that average figures are derived from the number of pupils scattered on all the teachers which means that in the classroom there are actually more pupils per teacher. In highly populated areas there are often more than 100 pupils. He points out that This says something about what kind of teaching that can take place under such circumstances. 1 The reason for the high enrolment rates is the abolishment of school fees according to the primary school teacher. The teacher also states that it is not only that they have removed the school fees; primary school is now compulsory education. The teacher points out that the effect of the abolishment of the school fees is that the classrooms now are so crowded that it is hard for teachers to manage the classrooms. This is because the number of required teachers is not equal to the amount of children. Anthony Mtavangu believes that the pupil-teacher rate has changed to the better compared to ten years ago and the reason for this is the adoption of PEDP and the massive production of new teachers. In order to remedy the situation the Government embarked on a program with the aim to change the teacher training from two years fulltime to one year fulltime in order to increase the number of teachers. Instead they introduced a mentorship program where mentors from Tanzanian collages where supposed to visit the new teachers. However the mentorship was a failure. Mtavangu said to us it didnt work in practice and in this program quantity was at expense of quality. Furthermore, Mtavangu mentioned that the increase of new teachers has not been able to cover the increase of enrolled pupils. Right now there is a shortage of 130 000 teachers in total and in primary school the amount is 30 000 teachers missing.

Det sger ngonting om vilken typ av undervisning som kan ga rum under sdana frhllanden translated from Swedish by the authors Patrick Lundqvist and Erik Bjrkdahl.

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Have you noticed any change regarding the distribution between boys and girls in the last couple of years? The primary school teacher told us that roughly half of the numbers of students are girls at the school, i.e. the school where the teacher work. Mtavangu said that the gender balance has changed in primary school since the abolishment so that there are more girls in school before and becoming fifty-fifty, and the situations have improved a lot. Persson says the balance in number between boys and girls has been relatively good in Tanzania for quite some time and the figures are something like 49/51 percent. In Tanzania girls are more needed in the daily support for the familys survival and that the parents are less willing in releasing the girls to school because they are more vulnerable than boys. It is more likely that they might get pregnant if they go to school for example. Another explanation is that, at least in some parts in Tanzania, the girls are forced into marriage in early ages and must drop out of school. This is important questions that Hans Persson and others like UNICEF and HakiElimu run, i.e. there is a possibility for girls to return to school after the pregnancy.

How do teachers and students interact with each other and do the students get any kind of feedback? The primary school teacher said that teachers try to interact with the students like visiting the children in class and follow up their work in the exercise books. Although the teacher consider it is hard because the time is short and there are so many children. The teacher also states that they give students feedback in the way that their examination reports are given to their parents and in that way parents sees their childrens performance. Mtavangu says that dialogue is impossible and one of the major challenges. This is because the method of teaching is very teacher centered. That learning is predominated by the teacher talk, and therefore they are not actually in a position to freely express their ideas. It all depends on what they get from the teacher and the books and for this kind of learning is more a knowledge transmission. There is no feedback more than that the teacher expect their students to reproduce the knowledge according to Mtavangu.

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Are the students involved in the planning of schedule, content of subjects, etc.? Does pupils council exist? Both the primary school teacher and Mtavangu state that the pupils never are involved in the planning of things like the schedule or content of different subjects etc. The teacher said actually we as teachers are not participating so much in the planning, because the syllabus is set from above. We just receive it and do what we are told. It is all centralized. The teacher and Mtavangu say that the only pupils who are involved are the ones chosen as prefects. The prefects are acting like monitors and assist the classroom teacher to take care of the discipline in the classroom. Mtavangu further explains that the prefects are elected from classes in the upper grades, mainly from grade 6 and 7 and gender is considered when they are elected. The prefects are also responsible to make sure that the other pupils, in the absence of the teacher, are disciplined.

Is there any kind of punishment and what is your opinion about that? Mtavangu says that corporal punishment exists, and the teacher uses this in order to solve disciplinary problems. This includes caning and other physical punishment like manual work. Mtavangu personally believes in a more friendly relationship between pupils and teachers, where the teacher behaves more as a councelor. Mtavangu further says that it depends on the change of the mind-set, and the kind of teacher preparation during college training, pre-service training and also through in-service training.

Has the teacher recruitment been able to keep up with the increase of enrolment of pupils? Has the burden increased and in what way? The enrolment rate has increased with 72 percent in comparison to year 2000 and the number of children in the age of 7-13, that is those who should attend primary school increased during this time with 21.5 percent according to Persson. The NER in 2005 was 95 percent compared to 58 percent in 2000 and 55 percent in 1995. This reflects that many children attend primary school today and if this increase continues, Tanzania will reach a NER of 100 percent. The GER has reached 110 percent which obviously show

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that there are pupils in primary school that are over-aged. Persson concludes that the consequence of this is that the recruitment and training of new teachers have not been able to keep up with the increasing number of new pupils. The primary school teacher and Mtavangu definitely believe that the burden for the teachers has increased. The teacher explains that there are a lot of exercise books to mark since there are so many children in the class. Many teachers have also died from HIV/AIDS, but it has been compensated by training new teachers. The Government made a proper measure when changing the training to one year instead of two years, in order to get more teachers in a short time. Mtavangu raised another issue. It concerns the inadequate quality of many teachers. When you are not confident with your teaching because of your professional quality, it definitely becomes a burden. Mtavangu feels that teachers unequal quote makes it somehow difficult for them to work confidently. HIV/AIDS affect teachers directly if they are sick but also if they have to take care of family members who are sick or to attend funerals. Mtavangu means also that the teachers will be affected in a psychological way if one of their pupils is infected or have lost their parents or guardians, creating a need of psychological support for the pupil.

Do you know if there has been any change in the school budget? Do you feel that you have more or less financial resources for school material such as books, desks etc.? The primary school teacher finds it positive that the schools have more control of their budget now. Previously the textbooks were bought by the district education officers but now the money goes directly to the schools and can be used according to the needs. Although the teacher points out that only a few schools have enough financial resources and in Tanzania there are still some schools that do not have enough desks and other facilities. Persson on the other hand says that when the schools collected fees they also had a direct income that they could use on a local level in some extent which they no longer have. But the fact that the school fees have been abolished is a truth with some modifications. Many schools requests contributions from parents for different things. Further more, the school

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requires also that the pupils should have school uniforms which give rise to expenses for the parents. There could be other indirect costs as well that the parents have to contribute to. The rapid expansion has given rise to high demand for new classrooms. What have happened most and for all when it comes to contribution is that assisting in building new schools have become a common way of contributing for the parents, Persson explains. The increase of foreign aid in recent years has not covered the missing revenues which have been the result of the abolishment of school fees in primary school. People are talking about a financing gap, i.e. the difference between the resources available according to the PEDP and the resources that actually are available. But many new schools have been built more or less on voluntary efforts and one interesting thing is that the value of this is not included in the official figures. The financing gap constitutes by money from donors or the Government and not the local communities contributions for example, which Persson really think should be the case, because it is a major contribution without knowing exactly how large.

Could you say that the salaries for the teaching-staff have changed in any direction the last couple of years? Has the abolishment of school fees affected teacher salaries? The primary school teacher explains that the salaries for the teachers have changed very little in the last years. Teachers are not satisfied with what they get and still not enough depending on todays life. Mtavangu says that there is no relationship between abolishment of school fees and the teacher salaries. The school fees that are paid by parents do not contribute to the teachers salaries because the education system is centralized. The salaries come from the central Government and not from the local community. He also says the salaries are not determined by the economic capacity of the community. The salaries are determined by the economic position of the country. The government is actually cautious and making the salaries of the public sector not so different. The average monthly salary for a primary school teacher is roughly 80 USD. That is for a teacher who has completed four years in secondary school plus one or two years in

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teachers training college. Mtavangu indicate that salaries actually have increased more than 50 percent compared to the salaries ten years ago.

Do you think the quality of the education has changed? What do you think is important for improving the quality of the education? The primary school teacher says that it is hard to say if the quality has deteriorated. The teacher mentions some improvements, for example the Government has built many classrooms since the abolishment of the school fees. Many of the children are now able to sit on desks and are able to work easier than previous, so in some aspects the quality has improved. The teacher thinks the most important thing in order to improve the quality of education would be to improve the situation of the teachers. The teachers must be motivated to work on this tough condition. So far not much have been done for the teachers according to the primary school teacher. Mtavangu opens up with the Government point of view which is that the quality of education has improved. The Government has looked at the passing rate which has become better; in that point of view there is a change. However Mtavangu is not convinced that the quality has changed. He explains: I think we have to look what quality means from a much more critical point of view. Passing is not the only measure. To me its not a visionary way of looking what quality means because that is for selecting. But I feel that quality should be rated for life, I believe that learning is for life and not for school. Mtavangu develops this further by saying that examinations are for the purpose to determine the selection of pupils and thus learning for school matters. If you look what they are able to do in life, the quality has not changed according to Mtavangu. Persson also discussed about the improved examination results. He underlined that he has a feeling that the improved examination results during the last couple of years not necessarily depends on an improved education but because of other factors. Persson explains that the reason for the improved examination results could be that the subjects are weighed different from earlier or that the examination questions are more simplified than before to improve the possibility for pupils to pass. The improved results seem

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peculiar considering the increase of the PTR and the increase of children in the classrooms. In addition, the access of textbooks has not increased in the same extent as the amount of pupils which at least theoretically suggests that this would be reflected in lower examination results according to Persson. Approximately 28 percent of the primary school leavers that wrote the exams passed in 2001, while almost 50 percent passed in 2004. Persson stress that the weighing system has been changed so that subjects like Kiswahili which in general is more easier for the pupils has been given more importance in the examination. This could explain a part of the improved examination results. Persson also thinks that the questions might be easier now which makes it easier to get good results. Persson says that in his perception the examination system in Tanzania earlier was more of a marginalization system where the idea was to make sure that the best candidates went to secondary school. In this way they made sure that only 20 percent had the possibility to apply to the secondary school. The development is very positive if the objective now is not to fail pupils but to make as many as possible to feel that they are adequate in the sense that they have passed primary school, according to Persson. Persson uses PTR as one indicator of quality of education and in that perspective is not what you would like it to be, he said. Another element of importance when it comes to quality, according to Persson, is the access of books. Pupils per book ratio are today about five or six. Even if this is slightly better than in the beginning of the PEDP, it is still insufficient if the pupils should have a reasonable possibility to read the content of the books and not just rely on the teachers dictation and notes on the black board, Persson emphasizes. Another important factor that can affect the quality that Persson expresses is the in-service training for teachers. He says that it is most common with preservice training for teachers while the resources for in-service training seem very limited. This means that things that could improve the quality such as new ways of teaching and new curriculums are not highlighted as much as one would like, according to Persson. Persson mentioned that a large proportion of the teachers in primary school actually do not really have an own education exceeding the primary school level. In reality they have gone from primary school to a simple teacher training to become a teacher. They try to

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cover the gap of competence that exists through in-service training for teachers with a low academic education. When you talk of in-service training in Tanzania it is mostly this kind of training they have in mind. Persson think it is unfortunately that the teacher which already have the basic education but need information and to be stimulated seldom get in-service training. Persson explained to us about SACMEQ-project; when it comes to indicators for quality in education other alternatives have been discussed and there is an initiative called SACMEQ (Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality). This is a project started by UNESCO and runs in several countries in Southern Africa including Tanzania and Zanzibar. SACMEQ use a method where they measure the pupils knowledge and skills and their ability to do different things. This is an example of examination that aim at learning outcomes and one of the advantages of this method is that the questions are designed in a way that the pupils short falls comes to light. The way they think is reflected in the answers. This gives a very good foundation for influencing the teacher training and the design of textbooks and other such things. This initiative could have great significance if the Government responded a bit more to it, according to Persson. Persson continues his discussion about quality to say that it is vital that the children actually learn something in primary school. He says that there is not enough of information right now in order to be able to make any certain conclusions. He concludes by saying that the plan stated objectives like the pupil-book ratio would be 1:1 in 2006 but they are far away from reaching this. It is a reflection of too optimistic expectations when the plan was designed. Mtavangu emphasizes the importance of teachers being oriented to participate interactive in classroom practices which has a social value, an affective domain, a cognitive and intellectual development. This must also be integrated with love for manual work and it should not really make the learner feel alienated from manual labor according to Mtavangu. The reason for this, he says, is that 80 percent of the Tanzanians are in involvements that actually are more conducive for the participation in manual production. Mtavangu summarizes by saying that there must be self-reliance in terms of thinking and in terms of translating practice things into actions. The primary school is too academic and people are only talking about passing exams according to Mtavangu. Mtavangu stress

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that if we go on according to this kind of thinking, we come to a point whereby the rural sector will have people who can not think of having access to other activities than in the urban areas. The urban areas will be a place where everyone wants to go but there are not employments for all the people coming from the rural areas and could result in chaos. Tanzania is not an industrial country and the economic backbone of the nation is still agriculture. This means that the people must be prepared actually to work with the rural undertakings and manage them. Furthermore Mtavangu state: Its still a big challenge. I believe that the most important thing for improving the quality is to review the curriculum. It should be reviewed so that it becomes relevant in that sense to gear competence building. Those competences should go beyond the major writing, reading and numerous skills. It has to prepare the learner to become self confidence in thinking, with the kind of orientation that prepares one to be a creative learner, a problem solver and of course a good citizen.

What is your opinion about the abolishment of the school fees? The primary school teacher finds that the decision to abolish the school fees was a good move by the Government, making sure that more children go to school. Mtavangu is also very positive and believes that education is a right for every one and the doors should be open for every kid and parents should not have to pay school fees. Persson says that it is a good thing, the number of pupils has increased and that parents can and want to send their children to school. Although what could be negative about this is if the rapid expansion is at the cost of what you actually learn in school. Persson says then there is a question about finding the right balance between quantity and quality. There has been a drastic increase in the enrolment in primary schools in Tanzania and in that sense the effects of the abolishment of school fees have been positive according to Persson. On the other hand Persson says that the abolishment of school fees raise many complicated factors which in turn leads to delays. From the beginning they might have reckoned this in the plan and anticipated that for example the relation between teachers and pupils would develop in a negative direction. Also, they probably anticipated this to be a temporary problem that they soon would settle. But that was not the reality, Persson ends.

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6.4 Case of the NGO HakiElimu and their view on PEDP HakiElimu is a Tanzanian NGO and was founded in 2001 by thirteen Tanzanians from different strata of the society which all had in common an interest and concern for improving the education in Tanzania (HakiElimu 2006). The organization is mainly financed by different donors. During our field course in Tanzania in April 2006, we visited HakiElimu. The text that follows is an extract from several papers written by HakiElimu and all of it represents their opinion. HakiElimus overall goal is to contribute towards ensuring that every child in Tanzania without discrimination is able to enjoy her or his right to quality basic (primary and secondary) education. We emphasize that this is not education of any sort, but one that promotes a culture and practice of human rights, democracy and critical citizenship. In our conception a good school is children-centred, gender-sensitive and rights respecting. It is a place where children thrive, where they learn to think and be creative, where they acquire life skills and self-esteem, and where they are respected and learn to respect others (HakiElimu 2006). When it comes to enrolment, HakiElimu believes that the PEDP is a success although they are concerned about the fact that there are regional differences. For example the NER in Kilimanjaro is 100 percent compared to 68.2 percent in Tabora (HakiElimu 2005, p. 2-4). The construction of new classrooms has also been a success even if the Government falls short to the target that was set up. Schools have more finances than before and have received more textbooks. However, the TPR have also increased and lead to overcrowded classrooms. There is still need for more teachers, classrooms and textbooks. HakiElimu also criticized that the PEDP review of 2004 showed that there had been little action taken from the Government on a large number of recommendations that was presented in the PEDP review of 2003 (HakiElimu 2005, p. 18). HakiElimu believes that there is a need for more attendance data rather than data of enrolment. The deployment, support and supervision of teachers must be reviewed in order to attract adequately qualified teachers. The Tanzanian Government decided to

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reduce the teacher training at the colleges from two years to one. In the second year the new teachers are posted to schools and are supposed to get supervision from tutors at the training college. In reality, the new teachers received little support when they were in the field. Review reports from 2003 and 2004 showed that the new teachers did not get adequate mentorship from experienced teachers (HakiElimu 2005, p. 13). Today the status of teachers in Tanzania is very low. The teaching and learning process in the classroom must be overlooked. The teaching is very teacher-centred and the pupils are only passive recipients of knowledge. The PEDP has not resulted in any major changes in this area so far. The schools are still not safe and friendly, especially not for girls (HakiElimu 2005, p. 19). Various reports has indicated that the full capitation grant equivalent to US $10 per enrolled child/year often not reach the school level. It is very important that the flow of funds to the school level is transparent and reliable (Makongo 2003, p. 5). In addition HakiElimu stress that information about policies, entitlements, obligations and funds should be more available to all. The information should be required to be displayed on notice boards in all schools etc. The dialogue machinery must also be improved. Domestic constituencies like civil society organisations and TTU should be included in a more meaningful way and particular care should be given to establishing clear rules of the game (HakiElimu 2005, p. 20). HakiElimu analysed in 2003 whether extra funding for primary education is making a difference. They looked at different aspects like if the measures that is used to measuring progress in education are the right ones and if the targets are appropriate and feasible. According to HakiElimu, the large increase in enrolment rates were more likely to be a cause of abolished school fees and an extensive political campaign to enrol children rather than increased funding. They also establish that there are no works waiting for the ones who complete primary or secondary school. Therefore they need to learn other subjects in school today such as how to solve a problem and think creatively. They have to be able to analyse the world and evaluate options and create solutions. There is a risk that additional funding will not improve the learning process and outcomes and only limited to expansion of infrastructure and enrolment (Rajani and Sumra 2003, p. 4). For HakiElimu it is quite clear that the increased funding is not being prioritized for the aspects that matter the most in education (Rajani and Sumra 2003, p. 6).

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In fact the increases in enrolment under PEDP are reported to have led to overcrowding and chaos, placing an enormous strain on under-motivated and ill-equipped teachers and further eroding quality of education (Rajani and Sumra 2003, p. 5). The teacher recruitment have not been able to keep up with the high enrolment expansion and there are class sizes of up to 200, or more in some cases, the classes are too big and the teachers are unable to cope with it. PEDP will create more problems at the school level if it is not implemented in a more systematic way (Sumra 2003a, p. 2). Rakesh Rajani who works at HakiElimu writes that overcrowding in fact may have increased the incidence of corporal punishment (Rajani 2003, p. 4). HakiElimu and TTU conducted a research report on the living and working conditions of teachers in Tanzania. The research was undertaken in seven districts of the country and included both quantitative and qualitative methods. The purpose of the research was to find out about teachers own perception about their working and living conditions. There have been several studies that point to the relation between teacher quality and quality of education. Authors like Coleman, Husen and Solomon have carried out studies that indicate that high quality of teachers have a positive impact on students achievement in developing countries. Bacchus (1996) argues that the impact of teachers quality is greater the poorer the country is (Sumra ca.2003b, p. 2). According to the research, the status of teachers has declined in recent years. Furthermore, this status decline is a reflection of the decline in their living conditions depending a lot on their salaries (Sumra ca.2003b, p. 17). The research also shows that the qualifications of primary school teachers are low. Almost half of the teachers in primary schools do not have an educational level above their pupils. One of the recommendations in the research is that the Government must put in place a policy that attracts better qualified students to the teaching profession. They mean that the solution lies in improving the status of teachers (Sumra ca.2003b, p. 43). HakiElimu have also published a summary of a research conducted by PhD candidate Euan Davidson. The authors research was entitled Understanding and Improving

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Quality in Tanzanian Primary Schooling and based at the School of Development Studies, University East Anglia, UK. The purpose with HakiElimus summary is to explore the progress of PEDP between 2002 and 2004 with respect to the expanding of primary education and quality issues related to this. The research took place in Morogoro Region and the method used was mainly qualitative (Davidson 2004, p. 2). Among other things, the author found that most teachers felt that their overall welfare has not improved during the PEDP. The teachers were most dissatisfied with their salaries. The teachers meant that the starting salary of Tshs 2 70.000 not was enough for a teacher without a family to make a living. They thought that the absolute minimum would be Tshs 100.000. The consensus was that about Tshs 400.000 would be needed for a teacher to live a decent lifestyle. Many teachers said that they had to do other things to get money that often interfered with the teaching (Davidson 2004, p. 6). According to the research, the majorities of the teachers use the blackboard and complement with some verbal explanation, and the pupils tried to copy the notes in their notebooks. Davidson argues that the reason for the poor pedagogy was that the teacher did not have the confidence to use the methods they had been taught at the teacher training collage. The reason for their poor confidence was not due to insufficient academic ability but to the lack of practical experience in the use of these techniques (Davidson 2004, p. 8). Davidson was also worried about the training that was being offered to the new teachers during their second year that they spend in school. There was actually almost no training at all during the second year. It also appeared as the methods of teaching were chosen in order to maintain control in the classroom and not to aid in the learning process. There was little evidence that any quality learning was taking place within the examined schools. This was after three years of PEDP implementation (Davidson 2004, p. 10). The examination results for primary school leavers have increased to 49 percent in 2004 compared to 27 percent in 2002. However, the reason for this is not necessarily improved quality of education. There could be several reasons for this increase and one might be that there has been some change in the examination structure. For example since 2003, emphasis in mathematics has been decreased which traditionally have had poor examination results (Davidson 2004, p. 11).
2

1 USD 1250 Tanzanian Shilling

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7. ANALYSIS
In the analysis chapter we connect the theoretical framework and the empirical chapter. The chapter starts with the quality of the teachers and the environment in the primary schools. The analysis ends with a discussion about the PEDP.

Quality of the teachers Our theory about the teachers quality focuses on the professional competence and their satisfactory level which is highly correlated with their living condition. With this theory in mind, our study shows that the teachers quality in general is low. We believe we found much ground for this. Davidsons study show that most teachers overall welfare has not improved during the introduction of the PEDP. The starting salary of Tshs 70.000 is not enough to support them. In fact many teachers have to look for moonlighting, often interfering with their ordinary job according to HakiElimu. This is likely to affect the teachers work negatively, having to think of ways to increase the income etc. The research carried out by HakiElimu show that the qualifications of primary school teachers are low. Also Mtavangu worries over the teachers quality. Many of the teachers have inadequate qualities which make them unconfident, he says. Both the primary school teacher and Mtavangu believe that the burden for the teachers has increased. If the burden is too high, the teachers will probably be tired and frustrated. In addition HIV/AIDS add more weight to the burden. HIV/AIDS is a known and devastating disease worldwide and this is a burden for both teachers and pupils. For example, if a teacher get infected or have to stay home and take care of an infected family member, a colleague must stand in, increasing the amount of work for the others. The burden also increases if a pupil loses the parents or guardians in HIV/AIDS, because then the teacher maybe have to play the role of a psychologist as well. One could imagine that this is emotionally exhausting for a teacher. When the teachers get infected, the illness affects their way of teaching and their alert during the lesson. Since there is no social

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safety net in Tanzania it is a possibility that they keep on teaching when they really should not. According to HakiElimu the status of teachers in Tanzania has declined in recent years. This could have a negative impact when it comes to recruiting new teachers. The fact that teacher profession is perceived to be a low status profession will not help to improve the quality amongst teacher. Also the primary school teacher confirms that teachers are unsatisfied with their salary. According to Persson, a large proportion of the teachers in primary school only have primary school education. This means that they sometimes have the same education as their pupils. The lessons are concentrated on the teacher standing at the blackboard and the pupils copying the information into their books. There is no time for teachers to visit the children and offer them help, therefore the teaching is more like transmission than learning. He also states that the in-service training, which is a quality factor, is limited. Persson believes that in-service training is important for motivating the teachers. We think that lack of in-service training is a threat to the teachers quality. How should the teachers maintain their knowledge if no in-service training is being offered to them? Eventually they might forget important details in teaching techniques and miss out new improvements etc. The Tanzanian Government is aware of the problems with the teaching force. They have stated in the ETP that the teachers salaries are low and irregular and have inadequate teaching facilities. It is also written in the ETP that the teacher status among other jobs is low. The Government has also stated in their ETP that the minimum for a qualified primary school teacher should be a valid Grade A Teacher Education Certificate. Grade A teachers have a Secondary Certificate and two years pre-service training at a Teacher Training College (Davidson 2004, p. 8). This is far from the reality. There are many Grade B/C teachers teaching in primary school. The Government also reduced the teacher training at the colleges from two years to one in order to accommodate the massive enrolment expansion. When starting work, the teachers should get support from tutors at the training college during the second year. According to HakiElimu however, the new teachers received little support in reality. Mtavangu described the mentorship as a failure and said that quantity preceded quality in this case. It is worrying if the requirement on new teachers reduces.

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Then there is a risk that the general quality of the teachers drops. The statistic show that the PTR has increased to 59:1 in 2004 from 46:1 in 2001, precisely before the school fees were abolished. This is a considerable increase, making the classrooms even more crowded. HakiElimu emphasize the seriousness in the situation; In fact the increases in enrolment under PEDP are reported to have led to overcrowding and chaos, placing an enormous strain on under-motivated and ill-equipped teachers and further eroding quality of education (Rajani and Sumra 2003, p. 5).

Quality of the environment in primary schools When it comes to the school environment our theory concentrates on the work of Per Settergren. He argues that a good quality school should be secure and comfortable. There must also be a curriculum with high ethical foundations as well as dialogue in the school. Furthermore, the pupils intellect, imagination and emotion have to be stimulated. Both the teacher and the pupils have to feel secure and comfortable when in school, otherwise they will not succeed with other issues according to Settergren. The security and comfort differs of course from school to school. Unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to attend a lesson at any school so therefore it is hard for us to give a comprehensive statement on this matter. We visited Zinga Primary School in the outskirts of Bagamoyo during our stay in Tanzania in April 2006. There were no class activities but it gave us an opportunity to see the buildings and the facilities. The school teacher told us that it often was more than 100 pupils in the classroom with two teachers holding the lesson. The pupil per book ratio at Zinga is 5:1. It should also be mentioned that the classrooms was quite small, and some desks were broken. The building had doors but there were no proper windows. It was a huge contrast compare to the Kibaha Secondary School and Tumbi Primary School. Kibaha which is located outside Dar es Salaam is a school for the elite, gathering the most talented students in the country. We experienced this school to be a very well organized and functional school and felt that the environment was much more pleasant. In the ETP it is stated that facilities in school is vital for good quality education and there is a need for improvements. According to HakiElimu, schools are still not safe and friendly especially not for girls. Rajani at

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HakiElimu also says that corporal punishment increase when the class is overcrowded. Mtavangu verifies that corporal punishment like caning and manual work is used relatively common. Persson indicates that new curriculums should be given more consideration. He says that new teaching methods could improve the quality of education. Anthony Mtavangu would like the curriculum to be reviewed to become more relevant. He believes that the curriculum should be formulated in a way that prepare learner to become self confident and creative thinking. The curriculum should also enable the pupils to become problem solvers and good citizens. Settergren points out the importance of influence and responsibility. It is likely that the pupils will perform better if they are given responsibility and have the possibility to affect their schooling. In our opinion the pupils in primary school do not have any influence at all. Pupils chosen to be prefects have some responsibility but not in the way that there exist any pupil councils which we had in mind. The primary school teacher said that the teachers get instructions from above, which means that their influence is restricted. The teacher said that they are just doing what they are told. Our opinion is that pupils are brought up with this kind of thinking. They are not encouraged to be active and taking own initiatives, affecting the learning process in a negative way. Referring to Settergrens theory about dialogue, it is a way of getting the pupils to achieve and improve their knowledge. We also think this is an important element for improving their oral capability. On the basis of our study there is not much of a dialogue. The existence of dialogue is one if the major challenges in the school in Tanzania today according to Mtavangu. The primary school teacher points out that the teachers try to interact with pupils when they visit them at their desks. The teacher thinks it is hard because there are so many children; it takes a lot of time just to follow up their work in the exercise books. We are very doubtful that there can be any interaction at all really. There is no way that the teacher can give any feedback to all pupils. For example if the classroom is too

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crowded it could mean that only the children in the front rows is involved in the discussions taking place. We are worried that this issue is not named or treated in the ETP. We believe this indicates that much more work has to be done from the Government side. It takes time for introduced policies to be implemented in practice. Therefore it is unfortunately that it has not been incorporated in the ETP yet. This is an important factor for the pupils to be able to develop their cognitive capacity. Cognitive capacity is about the capability of thinking and learning and improving the intellectual functions. Settergren stress that the pupils is given stimulating assignments in order to develop their thinking. Moreover it is important that the teachers are enthusiastic and have great knowledge in their subjects. In the ETP it is stated that language is an important tool for achieving cognitive skills, knowledge, technologies, attitudes and values. ETP also says that, regarding the socio-economic situation in Tanzania it is important that subjects as science and technologies will get more attention. As we know, Tanzania is dependent on their agriculture and it is very important sector. The agriculture sector contains numerous of different kind of work and skills. ETP points out for example different skills regarding this, skills like carpentry, masonry, economics and technical skills etc. Mtavangu thought that the primary education in Tanzania is too academic and it focus mainly on preparation for secondary education. We think that the Government should consider making primary education more adapted to Tanzanias socio-economic situation. Less than ten percent advances to secondary education so therefore the content in primary should be adapted to the reality. Skills regarding agriculture could be more useful. Mtavangu said that during the classroom activities it is important that teachers are interactive. Social value, an affective domain, a cognitive and intellectual development are factors that Mtavangu points out of being important when speaking about the stimulation. We find it interesting that these factors are taken into consideration, even if there are major problems like overcrowded classrooms, poor facilities etc. Mtavangu also mentioned that self-reliance is a must among people regarding the way of thinking, when speaking about going from practice to action. For people, like in Tanzania, we find this important for them to receive a greater knowledge and so that they can be part of the

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society and for example struggle against poverty. Mtavangu concludes that competence in writing, reading and numerous skills is also important regarding self confident in thinking, this encourage people to become for example a good citizen and a problem solver. It is interesting and important that both Mtavangu and ETP points out what is important for Tanzanias future and the development. This illustrates that they both are aware of problem and possible solutions. HakiElimu also mentioned the importance of creativeness, life skills and self-esteem and it is in the school they get educated and where they learn to think.

The educational actors view Mtavangu thinks that the PTR has changed to the better compared to ten years ago. However, according to statistical data this is not true. He was negative towards the shortening of the teacher training program and said that quantity was at expense on the quality. We believe that this indicates a deterioration of the quality. Mtavangu mentioned that lessons are dominated by the teacher and prevents dialogue with the pupils. He feels that the burden has increased for the teachers and also that the quality of many teachers is inadequate. He also discussed the examination results and says that the Government uses the improved results as a measure of the quality. Mtavangu do not think that examination is a suitable measure for quality and is uncertain if the quality has changed. We reckon that Mtavangu believes that the quality of the education still is low and there has not really been any change. The primary school teacher presents a more positive view regarding the change of quality. Nevertheless the teacher is dissatisfied with the overcrowded classrooms and an increased burden for the teachers. On the other hand the teacher is positive that the schools have more control over the budget and can use funds according to needs. Besides there have been other improvements such as building of new classrooms and more facilities. The primary school teacher comments indicate that there have been some improvements and is more positive in general than the other educational actors. Persson says that in highly populated areas there are often more than hundred pupils in the classrooms. He is questioning what kind of teaching can take place in these

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circumstances. The teacher training has not been able to keep up with the increase in enrolment. This statement also indicates a decline of the quality. Improved examination results do not necessarily depend on improved education. The reason for the improved examination results is probably a change in the examination process. He also states that access of textbooks has not increased in the same extent as the amount of pupils. But there has been a slight improvement since the beginning of the PEDP. This is an indication of an aspect of quality heading in the right direction. According to Persson many of the teachers do not have a complete teacher education. Taken together Persson is careful in his statements and says that it is too early to make any conclusions. However we feel that Persson is more negative than positive and glimpse a slight of decline in the quality of education. HakiElimu has witness an improvement regarding the building of new classrooms and access to textbooks. HakiElimu has the same opinion as Mtavangu when it comes to shortening of the teacher training education. They also think that the increased burden for teachers has further eroded the quality of education. Besides the status of the teacher profession has declined in the last years. Research shows that the qualifications of primary school teachers are low according to HakiElimu. The overall welfare for the teachers has not improved either. HakiElimu believes that there is low quality of education in general and that the quality has deteriorated since the abolishment of school fees.

PEDP The PEDP was implemented in 2002 by the government and is a comprehensive program stretching over five years. Enrolment expansion, quality improvement, capacity building and optimizing the utilization of human material and financial resources are the core components in the plan. The abolishment of the school fees is one strategy included in the PEDP. There is a risk that this well-known strategy becomes an obstacle in implementing the PEDP entirely. We argue that this is the case. In our minds there is no doubt that the abolishment of the school fees have been a great help in increasing the enrolment rates. However, when it comes to improving the quality some doubtfulness emerges. Since the enrolments rates have increased due to the abolishment of the school fees, this has also

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placed some strains on the school system and especially teachers. Arguments for this have been put forward in this thesis. In a way, the strategy to abolish the school fees is a contradiction. It is helpful in achieving some parts of the PEDP but complicate the fulfillment of others. It is clear that quantity have been given a higher priority than the quality. There is a question whether the plan is sustainable. Certainly, there must be a limit in what extent the quality can be put aside. Interesting is that, in our opinion, a predominant majority of the donors involved with development cooperation work welcome the abolishment of the school fees. We find this somewhat surprising and expected to hear more critical voices. We are not saying that it was wrong to abolish the school fees, only that the consequences should have been examined more thoroughly. The interviews we carried out show that they all are very positive to the Governments decision to abolish the school fees. This together with other aspects indicates to us that introducing school fees again is not a solution. Other solutions to the existing problems must be found. Figure 6.3 show an impressive financial improvement in the last decade. This must continue in order to assure the necessary capacity to handle the enrolment expansion and improve the quality of education. Although it is not enough with financial resources, other factors are needed for manage the massive expansion such as human capital for example. Human capital is not easily reinforced and quite some time is needed. More funds must be directed to the teachers in order to give them better support in their daily life and improve their professional competence. According to Hans Persson the abolishment of the school fees has resulted in a financial gap. The increasing financial allocation to the education sector has not covered the income loss due to abolished school fees. It is difficult to say whether the financial gap is the reason for the poor teachers salaries. Mtavangu sees no relation between the salaries and the abolishment of school fees. Besides, corruption can not be totally ignored. It is not certain that extra funds reach all the way down to the teachers.

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8. CONCLUSIONS
The purpose of this thesis was to examine different educational actors view to what extent the quality of education has been affected since the abolishment of the school fees in primary school. These are the questions we wanted to respond: What have been the effects on the primary education of the abolishment of the school fees? What are the different educational actors views about the quality of education in Tanzania since the abolishment of the school fees? How will the conditions for implementing the PEDP be affected of the abolishment of the school fees? In November 2001, the school fees in primary school were abolished by Tanzanian Government. The effects on the primary school from this decision have been that the enrolment rate has increased a lot. Approximately 2.7 million more children were enrolled in 2005 compare to 2001. The NER in 2001 was 66 percent and in 2005 the ratio rise to 94.8 percent. During the same years the GER increased from 84.4 percent to 109.9 percent. Between 2001 and 2005 the PTR went from 46:1 to 59:1. During this period, approximately 46 000 teachers were recruited and approximately 54 000 new classroom built. The huge expansion in enrolment has resulted in that the burden for the teachers has increased. The status of the teacher profession has been declining during the last years. Another effect from the abolishment is that the teacher training has been reduced from two years to one year. We also examined the educational actors view regarding the quality. It should be mentioned that their views which we present is compiled on the basis of our impression. HakiElimu believes that the quality has declined since the abolishment of the school fees and that the quality in general is rather low. They also believe that the abolishment has lead to increased burden for the teachers. We think that Persson and Mtavangu present a

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fairly similar view. They both complain of some lacking in the quality but they are hesitant whether there has been any change since the abolishment of school fees. Although they state that the high increase in enrolment rates has lead to some difficulties for the education system. The primary school teacher is more positive in some of the aspects. We found this rather interesting because of his daily interaction in the primary school as a teacher. But it must be mentioned that the teacher was concerned regarding the increased burden for the teachers. We also believe that the abolishment of school fees have affected the conditions for implementing PEDP entirely. Since the burden for the teachers has increased it also complicates to fulfill other targets like improving the quality. It seems like the quantity have been given higher priority than the quality. However, we believe that it is not a solution to again introduce school fees. The reason for this is that everybody we have spoken to think that it was a good move from the Tanzanian Government to abolish the school fees. We have some thoughts regarding the curriculum in general. From what we have learned, curriculum is too academic and not suitable to the Tanzanian context. Agriculture is the most important sector where about 80 percent of the Tanzanians is working and living. It is better to learn how to think creatively and be able to cooperate with others instead of preparing for higher education. Is it right to educate children at young age for the purpose to handling the university when such a small fraction get the opportunity to attend university. It is also worth mentioning the considerably regional differences in the enrolment rates. For example the NER in Tabora Region is about 68 percent when in Kilimanjaro Region it is 100 percent. From what we have read and found out from the interviews it is obvious that the teacher profession status must be improved. It is vital to break the negative trend regarding the teacher education. Unqualified teachers will provide low quality education in primary schools. It is the children in primary school today, who is the future for Tanzania.

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Concluding comments and further research The PEDP has been successful when it comes to enrolment. Tanzania is not far away from reaching a hundred percent in Net Enrolment Ratio. However, there is still a lot to be done in order to improve the quality of the primary education in Tanzania. Those involved in the international aid community play an important role in developing countries. We would like to stress the importance that they consider more thoroughly what consequences a plan like this can give. It is of course the Tanzanian Government that introduced the PEDP but the international aid community has a significant influence and responsibility. At national level the Government has started a decentralization process. We believe that this is the right decision in improving the primary education. As we see it, it would be better if each district can decide for them selves how the primary education should improve and develop. The districts could also join with another district especially if a district has limited capacity. The Government should therefore support the districts instead of controlling them. We would like to express that this study rely on a rather limited material and therefore should the conclusions not taken to be definite. Here follows some suggestions for future studies regarding this area; It would be interesting to follow up what happens with the children who pass primary education, will the secondary school be able to accommodate them? The large enrolment expansion increases the pressure on the secondary school. The quality issue is likely to be a topic for discussion here as well and consequently making it an interesting research area.

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References
Interviews with respondents and the informant
Hans Persson, Senior Program Officer at Sida in Dar es Salaam. Swedish Embassy in Dar es Salaam, April 8, 2006. Anthony Mtavangu, Head of Education and Training Department. Tanzania Teachers Union office in Dar es Salaam, April 19, 2006. Primary school teacher, Teacher at a primary school in Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Teachers Union office in Dar es Salaam, April 20, 2006.

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