Patterns of education in Tanzania : an analysis with special reference to primary and community education

Nkumbi, Emmanuel Musee

Abstract

This thesis is based on research carried out from January to June 1984 in Tanzania, mainly in the Central Zone regions of Singida and Dodoma, and in Britain. The primary aim of the text is to analyse the development of Tanzanian education with a view to an assessment, in context, of the primary sector, and especially the implementation of the Community School Programme. The core of the research is on primary schools, those institutions in which the whole process of education for the new national ideals must take place. The main policy concern of education in Tanzania is to make schools serve economic, social and human development and be increasingly integrated into the community, national and local.

The basic premis of this study is that educational policy in Tanzania has been greatly influenced by: the literature and field of 'Community Education' in developed countries; international connections with Socialist countries; traditions of indigenous education and society; particular Mission and colonial involvements in the country; exposure to international bodies such as UNESCO and allied organizations; the political philosophy of education for self-reliance.

These influences have been fully explained in Parts A, B and C of the thesis. How these principles are actually being carried out in Tanzanian primary schools has been the concern of Part D of the thesis. What has been espoused here is that the effective implementation of Tanzanian education policy is yet to be achieved. There has been a severe quantity-quality trade off occurring in primary education due mainly to financial, manpower and material constraints. Where planning has preceded political decisions, large measures of success have been achieved, but in general, political expediency and haste have created substantial divergency between policy and practice. Unevenness in the modernization process has produced enormous gaps between rural societies that are still traditional and urban societies that have become largely modern. The resulting differences in the human conditions between these two societies lie at the root of some of the most serious and hazardous problems of national well­ being now facing the peoples of Tanzania.

For practical implementation of community based education policy, a reconciliation of the above influences is a necessary process which requires the co-operation and fullest support within the relevant local and international contexts.

Citation

Nkumbi, E. M. (1985). Patterns of education in Tanzania : an analysis with special reference to primary and community education. (Thesis). University of Hull. Retrieved from https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4223765

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Dec 24, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 24, 2023
• Keywords: Education
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4223765
• Additional Information: Department of Educational Studies, The University of Hull
• Award Date: Sep 1, 1985