Two apparently contradictory messages over the state of education in Tanzania have come out this past week.

One was from the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, where Tanzania was being honoured with an award for having delivered on the implementation of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

In effect, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda was in New York to receive the honours, bestowed on the country for its successful implementation of one of the MDGs by achieving an enrolment rate of 95 per cent of school age children.

Needless to say, that is an accolade any government would be proud of and be anxious to display on the high street, especially now that the election campaigns are in full swing and some misguided ingrates are wont to downplay the government’s achievements.

But hardly a day after the award was given, a report released in Dar es Salaam claimed that despite the high and laudable figures regarding enrolment all was not as rosy as it seemed in the education sector, in a way pouring cold water on the news of the award.

The report, which presents research findings collected around the country by Uwezo, an East-Africa-wide non-governmental organisation, which carried out research in the country in May this year, covered 38 districts out of 133 and found little to lift the spirit.

The report, which is based on a survey of schoolchildren aged 5-16 to gauge their literacy and numeracy levels, does indeed raise some disconcerting issues.

For instance, the researchers found that one in every five primary school leavers (Standard 7) could not read Standard 2 level Kiswahili, which is scandalous, especially considering that Kiswahili is used universally in Tanzania.

The situation worsened dramatically when a survey was done of same-level students (Standard 7) and it was found that half of them could not read Standard 2 level texts in English.

Granted, English is not the national language and Tanzanians have long been considered to be particularly weak in the language, but 50 per cent is a bit rich.

Further, it was found that only 7 in 10 primary school leavers could do Standard 2 level Mathematics.

This would mean that, in terms of numeracy, 30 per cent of those who complete primary school have not even cleared Standard 2, five years behind where they are.

Other findings provide no fresh surprises, such as the one about urban students doing better than rural ones, children with educated mothers besting those without, and girls coming on top of boys, a perennial reality, though, of course, we also know that girls tend to gradually decrease as we go up the education ladder.

The report is likely to spark another bout of debate over what it terms as a “crisis in education” especially on issues of basic literacy and numeracy.

We can also expect the usual arguments about what a country struggling with financial resources should prioritise between quality and access: Is it more justified to enrol all children of the requisite age even if the education they get is third rate, or is it better to enrol only the numbers that we are sure can be provided with a first class education?

If the first option is chosen, what is the point of keeping young ones in school for seven years if we know that most of them will come out of the process with no education at all?

Isn’t this what has made some parents in certain areas to go to great lengths, including bribing, so that their children do not go to school?

On the other hand, if enrolment is predicated on ability to provide a proper education, and that means, say half of the eligible children will miss out, whose children will constitute that half?
Won’t this be another battleground where money and political influence will ensure the affluent families always stay ahead?

There no easy answers to these questions, and all one can wish is that these issues be placed, permanently, in the public sphere as items for continuous debate. They should not be the sole preserve of bureaucrats.

Jenerali Ulimwengu, chairman of the board of Raia Mwema newspaper, is a political commentator and civil society activistbased in Dar es Salaam. E-mail: [email protected]