DAR ES SALAAM TEACHERS COLLEGE

Report of the Visitation Team

August, 2004

1.0INTRODUCTION

For the past three decades, the Tanzania Government has been battling the problem of teacher shortage in the school system. A major turning point was the 1978 Education Act, which amongst other things called for both increase in number of teachers and consolidation of their quality. Following this Act, measures were taken to abolish the three-year teacher education degree programme at the University of Dar es Salaam. Instead a three-year plus one-term programme was introduced and later converted into a 4-year programme.

However, given the increasing social demand for primary and secondary education the problem of teacher shortage has deepened considerably. Consequently there have been a number of strategic reforms to enhance the development of human resources for the education sector. These reforms include the Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP, 1999), Primary Education Master Plan (PEMP, 2000); Secondary Education Master Plan (SEMP, 2000); Teacher Education Master Plan (TEMP, 2000); and Higher and Technical Education Master Plan (HTEMP, 2002).

Recently the Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP, 2001) and Secondary Education Development Programme (SEDP, 2004) have led to a significant expansion of primary and secondary education, implying a further demand for teachers at both levels. It has also been established that attrition rate of teachers is escalating due to AIDS and other socio-economic factors. Hence the need to expand teacher preparation programmes considerably. Besides, both PEDP and SEDP call for retraining and reorientation of education managers at all levels so that they can effectively manage the expanding student intake.

As part of the strategic efforts to meet the demand for teacher and other staff in the education sector it was proposed way back in 1990 to create three constituent colleges of the University of Dar es Salaam namely, Chang’ombe, Mkwawa and Marangu. The UDSM Council approved this proposal in November 29, 1990 and recommendations for its implementation were sent to the Government through the Ministry of Education. After the 1990 General Election the Ministry of Education was split into two Ministries – MOEC and MSTHE. This separation created an administrative problem of implementing the proposal given the fact that UDSM fell under MSTHE while the schools and teachers colleges came under MOEC.

Currently, the issue of constituent colleges has again been raised in the SEDP (2004) document as an important avenue for meeting the rising demand for teachers, which has been created by the expansion primary education enrolments through PEDP and the creation of new secondary schools inturn.

2.0RATIONALE

The Dar es Salaam Teachers College (DTC)also known as Chang’ombe, is the nearest of the Teacher Training Colleges to UDSM and has the advantage of allowing sharing of resources with the UDSM academic faculties of Science, Arts Commerce and the Main Library and academic staff/faculty in the initial years. Its built infrastructure allows for upward expansion. It has ample space for sports facilities as well as demonstration pre- primary, primary and secondary schools. Using ICT it could easily be linked to the UDSM main campus through the UCC and hence lectures could be offered by such distance mode from either side. It is in close proximity to many educational institutions, departments and schools, which can benefit from both traditional and evening courses as well as distance education programmes.

Currently, DTC, has a capacity of 350 boarding students, but with the completion of its built infrastructure, as well as the application of current UDSM policies of deboarding and evening programmes, it can quadruple its enrollment to over 1600. This number will combine one year PGDE students, undergraduate and other specialized in-service programmes, both subject based (e.g. English, Maths, science) or professional (e.g. pedagogy, didactics, mentoring and educational management).

Dar es SalaamTeachers College has the potential to be used as a nucleus for innovation in teacher education - affiliation, staff training and development and a major professional support for other colleges. DTC has been consistently mentioned in all write-ups of creating constituent colleges, from the 1990 Task Force Report, the Malima's Budget Speech of 1988/89, and the Joint Workshop of April 2003.

3.0VISITATION TO DAR ES SALAAMTEACHERS’ COLLEGE

Following the Dodoma meeting, the VC, UDSM directed that a mini-task force from the Faculty of Education be formed to immediately respond to the issues raised in the meeting (see main report). The team worked on the issues and submitted a report to the UDSM management recommending among other things the need to visit the 3 colleges, namely, Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Mkwara, to do a physical survey and audit to be able to determine the financial implications.

3.1Terms of Reference for the Team

The visiting team to Dar es Salaam Teacher Colleges was directed to do the following:

  1. Revisit the Council Approved 1990 Report of the Working Party on the establishment of Constituent Colleges of the University of Dar es Salaam and build on any information and data as well as recommendations contained therein.
  1. Survey the existing space and suggest additional, immediate, intermediate and long-term space requirements for effective implementation of the envisaged programmes. The survey was required to take into account the following:
  • Office Space
  • Lecture Theatres
  • Lecture rooms
  • Seminar rooms
  • Laboratories (infrastructure, equipment, facilities)
  • Library (infrastructure, books, periodicals etc)
  • Assembly Hall
  • Student accommodation (on campus/in town/suburbs
  • Staff accommodation (on campus/downtown)
  • Catering facilities (cafeteria/private)
  • Dispensary
  • Maintenance Section
  • Sport and recreation
  • Student centre/Senior Common Room
  • Demonstration schools
  • Sanitation facilities
  • Future Expansion
  • ICT connectivity
  • Telecommunication/reliability
  • Water supply capacity and reliability
  • Transport facilities for management, staff, students/reliability
  • Reliability of public transport/Accessibility
  • Power supply any standby generator (What is required to make it accessible.
  1. Assess the entire physical facilities, plants and fixtures of the envisaged college and recommend specific areas that require repairs and maintenance.
  1. Assess student intake capacity at the college under the following scenarios. Current facilities, expanded facilities, combination of expanded facilities and off campus accommodation.
  1. Audit staff at the colleges. Identify staff that directly qualify to be retained as well as those who might qualify after a period of staff development. Project staff requirements – faculty, technical, administrative and support staff demands for establishing other faculties at the colleges.
  1. Review the designed structure of the College, compare then with the recommended structure for Constituent/Affiliate Colleges of the UDSM and suggest changes that need to be effected to facilitate effective and efficient discharge of the colleges’ functions.
  1. Prepare a detailed short and long-term plan for: (a) infrastructural development (b) human resources development.

8.Prepare a budget for the start up activities at the envisaged colleges for the Academic year 2004/2005. Assess subvention trends for the years, including donors and income generating activities.

9.Prepare budget and propose sources of funding the development programme of the envisaged colleges.

10Take of all assets and liabilities of the college and suggest modalities of smooth transfer of assets to UDSM. Also recommend to Government on how best to manage the liabilities.

11.Perform any other function related to the assignment as it may be deemed necessary.

3.2Modus Operand

The teams conducted detailed discussion with the top management of the colleges, reviewed available college documents and consulted other on issues such as availability of a title deed, boundaries, sanitation system etc. The team however observed that some aspects of the terms of reference could be handled when preparing a master plan and strategic plan of the College.

4.0MAJOR FINDINGS

4.1Geography

The College is locate in Temeke District Dar es Salaam region, adjacent to the National Stadium, J.K.T Mgulani and Temeke District Headquarters.

It is about 9 kilometres from the town center and 15 kilometres from the University via the Mandela road. Thus communication with the university is easy and quick.

The College consists of 33 acres, some of which has not been built on. The DemonstrationPrimary School occupies 1/5 of the total college land. In addition, between the college boundary and the National Stadium there is an open space which has not been built on and has been set aside as a car park for the stadium. However, the Ministry of Labour Culture and Social Welfare had plans of building a new stadium between the National Stadium and Chang’ombe TTC (Daily News, March 29,1990).

Attempts to fence off the compound or control rights of way have begun to maximize security and control theft and vandalism especially when there are big football matches at the stadium. Both front and rear gates to the College have been installed and these have controlled the myriad of paths that used to be seen on the college campus.

4.2Brief History

Dar es SalaamTeachers College was established in 1959 by Sir Richard Turnbull, the British Governor in Tanganyika. Its first activities were undertaken in the buildings which today are used by the Chang’ombe Practicing Primary School. Initially the college aimed at training Asian teacher’s for Asian primary schools in the then Tanganyika. Students who completed the course successfully were awarded the Cambridge School Certificate.

In 1965 the college was moved to its present premise where the foundation stone was laid by his Excellency, the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, the first President of the United Republic of Tanzania. The first African Principal, was appointed in 1967. Since then the college started a comprehensive training programme of primary school teachers for the whole nation without discrimination.

Also in 1966 the college started offering a Diploma programme in Education to students who had successfully completed form six. After completion of the course and passing their necessary examinations they were employed to teach in secondary schools by the Ministry of Education. In the mid sixties the college was given a task of developing curricula for Kiswahili and Geography in collaboration with the then Institute of Education of the University of Dar es Salaam.

In its history, the college had offered different programmes such as

  • Health Education Courses which was offered from 1962 – 1966. The objectives of these courses were to raise Community Health Standards through schools. It was offered to Student Teachers and School Inspectors.
  • A two years upgrading Diploma course which started in 1967 – 1994. The main aim was to raise the academic level of primary school teachers. One year was spent on A level studies and the second for Diploma course.
  • Music, Fine Arts, Theatre Arts and Sport courses at Certificate level began in 1970 and ended in the year 90s. These courses were latter shifted to ButimbaTeachers’ College in Mwanza region.
  • Home Economics course (female students only) – This course has also been transferred to MandakaTeachers’ College in Moshi Kilimanjaro.
  • Grade III A Certificate course which is no longer offered by the College.

4.3Administration

As in other Teachers’ Colleges, the College is headed by a Principal who is answerable to the Director of Teachers’ Education at the Ministry of Education and Culture. The College has a College Board appointed by the Regional Commissioner and consists of representatives from the Ministry and the College staff. The Principal is the Secretary of the Board.

The Principal and Vice-Principal, are assisted by the Dean of students, Registrar of students, Heads of Departments and supporting staff.

The college also hosts secondary school, a primary school and a pre-primary as demonstration facilities whose administration is answerable to the Principal of the College. Figure 1 shows the College Organizational Structure:

Figure 1: College Organizational Structure

The students elect their own government (SEWAUDA) under the supervision of the Dean of Students.

4.4Programmes at Present

Currently the College caters predominantly for pre-service students with the exception of a few Inservice teachers who have same qualification with the pre-service. The programmes are:

  • Diploma course in Education specializing in Science subjects (Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics), Social Science subjects (Geography, History, Language) and Business and Commercial subjects. Also, the college offers computer applications courses.
  • A one year INSET programme – This programme deals with secondary school teachers who graduated their first degrees in general degrees without an education component (e.g. B.A and M.A.) Upon graduation, the graduates are awarded a Postgraduate Certificate to teach in secondary schools.
  • Teacher Resource Centre (TRC). The center was established as part of human capacity building programme in Science and Mathematics for Primary and Secondary School Teachers. This was established through TEAMS project of the Faculty of Education, UDSM.

4.5Student intake and enrolment

(a) Students for the diploma courses are selected by the Ministry of Education and Culture on the basis of their ACSEE results. They require two principal passes in two teaching subjects which are taught in secondary schools. The enrolment for the two years of 2003/04 and 2004/05 is shown below:

Table 1: College enrolment in 2003/2004 and 2004/2005

2003/2004 / 2004/2005
Sn / Combinations / Male / Female / Total / Male / Female / Total
1. / CA / 23 / 15 / 38 / 16 / 10 / 26
2. / CB / 24 / 12 / 26 / 14 / 09 / 23
3. / CG / 04 / 01 / 05 / 03 / 04 / 07
4. / CM / 04 / 03 / 07 / 05 / 03 / 08
5. / EK / 12 / 25 / 37 / 15 / 21 / 36
6. / FR / 11 / 05 / 16 / 07 / 06 / 13
7. / GB / 17 / 09 / 16 / 10 / 07 / 17
8. / GM / 11 / 06 / 17 / 12 / 04 / 16
9. / PB / 06 / 03 / 09 / 04 / 05 / 09
10. / PC / 04 / 06 / 10 / 12 / 03 / 15
11. / PG / 07 / 01 / 08 / 06 / 01 / 07
12. / PM / 17 / 06 / 23 / 22 / 04 / 26
13. / INSET / 20 / 18 / 38 / - / - / -
TOTAL / 140 / 110 / 250 / 126 / 77 / 203

4.6Staffing and Qualifications

There are presently 37 members of teaching staff, consisting of 11 M.A, 23 BA/B.Sc., 1 Diploma, 1 Grade A Certificate and 1 with a special certificate. This is, however, a constantly changing situation. Still is obvious that any decision to transform Chang’ombe into a Constituent college would have immediate implications in terms of commitment to recruitment and training of academic staff. The tables 2 and 3 below show the staffing situation for both academic and non-academic cadres, respectively.

Table 2: Teaching Staff by Qualifications and Gender

Qualification / Male / Female / Total
PhD / - / - / -
MSc / 01 / - / 01
MSc (Env) / 01 / - / 01
M.A (Ed.) / 01- / 03 / 03
M. Phil. Ed / 01 / - / 01
M. Ed (Sc.Ed) / - / - / 01
M.A (Ling) / - / 02 / 02
M.A (Demog.) / 01 / 01 / 01
PGD (Ed) / 01 / - / 01
B.Ed (Arts) / 01 / 03 / 04
B.A (Ed) / 05 / 02 / 03
B.Ed (Sc) / 01 / 04 / 09
B.Sc (Ed) / 01 / - / 01
B.A (Gen) / 01 / - / 01
B.Ed (PESC) / 01 / 01 / 02
B.Com / 01 / - / 01
Adv.Dipl. / 01 / - / 01
Certificate / 02 / - / 02
TOTAL / 20 / 17 / 37

The administrative staff number is 26 but the same commitment is required for them. For example, the accounts are handled by two accounts assistants. The Library has one Librarian Gr.III and the remainder are Form IV (1) and Std.VII(3). Appointment and training of more qualified administrative and support staff will be required.

Table 3: Non-teaching Staff by Post and Gender

Respective Post / Male / Female / Total
Accountants / 01 / 01 / 02
Typist / - / 02 / 02
Store keepers / 01 / 02 / 03
RMA / - / 01 / 01
Nurses / - / 01 / 01
Carpentry / - / - / -
Librarian / - / 01 / 01
Office attendants / 01 / 04 / 05
Cooks / 03 / 04 / 07
Gurds / 02 / - / 02
Drivers / - / - / -
Electricians / - / - / -
Lab. Technicians / - / - / -
Plumbers / 01 / - / 01
Office supervisor / - / 01 / 01
TOTAL / 09 / 17 / 26

4.7Equipment and Vehicles

Owing to a combination of vandalism, theft and lack of rehabilitation, the condition of the physical plant is critical. Almost all the movable equipment such as louvers, tables, chairs and even washbasins and showers have been stolen with the exception of those in the Administration block and the Principal’s house. Where sheet glass windows have been installed, they were largely intact. Recently the College has acquired 450 new lecture chairs. The electrical fittings has also been widely vandalized, especially in the students’ dormitories, teachers’ quarters, cafeteria and some classrooms.

What had not been stolen was largely broken, obsolete or non-existent.

(a)In the dormitories, wardrobes, toilets, showers, washbasins and hotwater tanks need extensive replacement.

(b)In the kitchen, all seven cookers, the hot water tank and the cold room were all out of order. At present cooking was done in an improvised external structure outside the cafeteria building using firewood and DANIDA had constructed a modern firewood kitchen using stoves that required only one third of the usual amount of firewood. This would undoubtedly help to alleviate the problem but one wonders whether it was an adequate long term solution especially considering the location of the College.

In the dining hall, there were no bulbs, louvers, or chairs. There were very few tables. The glass sheet folding doors were intact but the folding mechanism was out of order.

(c)There are no fire extinguishers in the laboratories. However, the laboratories have taps, sinks and electricity points. DANIDA was also rehabilitating the electricity system by rewiring most of the buildings and repairing faulty fittings. However DANIDA had opted to use the external wiring system which tended to be a short-lived solution.

(d)The library has reading tables and chairs for 168 students and 26 bookshelves. However, the microfilm facilities were out of order.

(e)The maintenance section consisted of 4 carpentry benches. The planer and grinding machine were out of order.

(f)The dispensary has a stethoscope, a fridge and a bed and a screen. The equipment are largely inadequate.

Three of the four telephone lines and many of the 31 extensions were out of order.

4.8Physical Facilities

The College was established in 1959 and the buildings were completed in 1965. Most of the buildings had flat roofs which leaked severely owing to lack of rehabilitation. This had been largely rectified by the DANIDA Maintenance team. The Administration building, teaching block, cafeteria, laboratories, library and dormitories had already been reroofed with corrugated sheeting and plans were underway to reroof the Principal’s house and teachers’ flats.