INTRODUCTION
The Education Sector has been conducting successful annual reviews with the aim of assessing the overall performance of the sector in the context of the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP/MKUKUTA) and Education for All (EFA) targets. These reviews had taken place in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
The general objective of the 2009 JESR is to assess performance of the education sector against agreed milestones summarized in the 2008 Aide Memoire. The specific objective was to assess and report on progress related to outputs and outcomes, reform processes, and education sector dialogue. Traditionally, reflection on progress is done through the presentation and discussion of papers written on agreed thematic areas that have been identified as a priority for the education sector in that particular year.
For the JESR 2009 the main objective of the consultancy on ‘Improvement of Teaching and Learning Processes for Quality Education Outcomes’ was to provide an analysis of the ways in which teaching and learning processes can be improved to create better quality education outcomes as per the following terms of reference.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
The consultants were tasked to do the following:
1)To assess and analyze the existing situations to improve quality of education outcome, on all the identified areas, namely quality of teaching and learning, quality of teacher education, quality of teacher management and deployment, and access to teaching and learning materials.
2)To review the existing policies and plans put in place or being developed by Education Sector Ministries to enhance that situation;
3)To develop draft recommendations for the way forward for each area
4)To deliver a draft and final report of no more than 20 pages (excluding annexes) that includes:
A clear and concise executive summary.
Full documentation of the analyses made;
Draft practical and implementable recommendations within the current structures of the Ministries involved; and
PowerPoint presentation for the JESR.
METHODOLOGY
In order to address the above mentioned terms of reference, the consultants employed a combination of methods. The first method was documentary review. Official documents particularly that were relevant to the key tasks of assessing quality of education in its various dimensions were reviewed. Such documents included the Education Sector Development Programme, the Primary Education Development Programme, the Secondary Education Development Programme, and the Teacher Development Management Strategy of 2007,. Other documents were the Education and Training Policy (1995), and the Higher Education Policy (1999). Those documents were considered to be the basis for appreciating and understanding the reform efforts in Tanzania and educational policy and practice in the past decade or so.
The second method was literature review. The review focused mainly on secondary data, that is, both published and unpublished works that attempted to describe and explain the situation on the ground. Some of the works that were reviewed included theoretical analyses of the key yet value laden concepts such as education quality. A common understanding of such a concept as well as the indicators of quality was deemed essential for a meaningful discussion of the review process in the light of MKUKUTA, Education for All, and the Millennium Development Goals.
The third method was conducting interviews with key stakeholders. This method was deemed essential in gauging the extent of success attained, challenges encountered in attaining the milestones identified in the JESR 2008, and the way forward towards the 2009/10 financial year. Interviews were conducted with selected key stakeholders within the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training who have been mandated to manage the formal and non formal education sectors at primary, secondary, teacher education, adult education, as well as higher education levels.
ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
This report provides a review of the policies and plans to enhance quality in Tanzania. it examines the indicators of quality of education at global, national and local levels, and provides detailed description of the status of the education sector performance in relation to the agreed benchmarks and targets for the year 2008/09. The targets are derived from the Strategic Plan, Budget Guidelines and the agreed priority actions in the ESR Aide Memoire 2008, and from the agreed Education Sector Wide Monitoring Tool. In particular this report highlights performance at each level in relation to (a) Quality of teaching and learning, (b) Quality of teacher education, (c) Quality of teacher management and deployment, and (d) Access to teaching and learning materials. In addition the report provides details on key issues and challenges, identifies targets at risk or which were not met, and shows the Ministry’s actions taken to mitigate those challenges. Based on this analysis, a number of recommendations are suggested for improvement of education quality in the four areas of focus.
POLICIES AND PLANS TO ENHANCE EDUCATION QUALITY IN TANZANIA
Quality education is a priority policy objective which is enshrined in the Education Sector Development Programme (ESDP) launched in 1997 and revised in 2001 and 2008. It is also self evident in the sub sector programmes (PEDP, SEDP and TEMP). The ESDP vision is to have an upgraded and coherently planned, managed and monitored educational sector that will develop human capital in order to boost economic growth and eliminate poverty in line with the Tanzania Vision 2025 and the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP/MKUKUTA. The establishment of a conducive teaching and learning environment stands out as one among four outcome clusters to be addressed by each of the sub-sectors, namely Basic Education, Technical and Vocational Education, Higher Education and Folk Education.
Several measures have been identified in the ESDP 2008-2017 that will help improve the quality of teaching and learning processes. These include improved clinical supervision and mentoring of teachers through the implementation of the Teachers’ Development Management Strategy (TDMS), planned quality in-service training of teachers, strengthening of Teachers’ Resource Centers (TRCs) and strengthening ICT in education institutions for open learning.The ESDP recognizes the importance of improvements on teachers’ skills, teaching and learning materials including textbooks and equipment in the development of Tanzania’s human resources.
The ESDP has set several operational targets n order to create a conducive teaching and learning environment. The targets include:
taking steps to ensure that educational institutions are safe, accessible, violent free, child friendly, gender sensitive and disability friendly by 2011;
equipping all primary and secondary schools with adequate, competent and skilled teachers by 2012;
providing and improving the availability of textbooks and assistive devises at all levels by 2017; and
improving provision of library services at all levels of learning.
The Primary Education Development Plan (PEDP) launched in 2000 was designed to counter the challenges posed by the Universal Primary Education (UPE). It was intended to provide real opportunity for all Tanzanian to access decent primary education as a major component of the fight against poverty. Its implementation was guided by the principles of access, equity and quality. Issues about governance were crucial to the plan; hence the emphasis on transparency, democracy, participatory decision-making and accountability (URT, 2003).
The four distinguishing features of the plan were: enrolment expansion, quality improvement, capacity building and institutional arrangements. These were understood to be closely interrelated and interdependent. Revitalization and improvement of quality of primary education focused on the teaching and learning processes centering on teachers’ teaching styles and methods, availability of good quality learning and teaching materials and provision of support to the teachers. On capacity building, PEDP aimed to strengthen capacity and competence of staff at all levels in order to achieve efficiency, decentralized governance, public participation and empowerment of local communities.
Despite impressive quantitative achievements, critics have pointed out areas in which more could be done better. (TEN/MET, 2004; Zablon, 2004;Mbwambo, 2005; Van den Stein, 2004; Rajani & Sumra, 2003). Invariably, the critics observe that classroom process were wanting mainly because teachers were in short supply and had been ill prepared.
The achievements scored under PEDP have had serious consequences on secondary education which came to face three main challenges: increasing access, raising quality and reducing costs. Consequently, the Secondary Education Development Programme (SEDP) was launched in 2004. The programme aimed at increasing the proportion of the relevant age group completing lower and upper secondary education, expanding enrolment with equity, improving the learning outcomes of students especially among girls, and enabling the public administration to manage secondary education more effectively.
The objectives of SEDP were to be attained through more efficient use of resources, provision of development grants to schools and communities; expansion of teacher supply; lowering household costs for secondary education; expansion of the scholarship programme for students from poor households; and through enhancing a partnership with the non-governmental sector.
The program for quality improvement included curricula and examination reforms, provision of textbooks and teaching materials through capitation grants to schools, teacher development through pre-service training and the establishment and implementation of a system for professional in-service teacher development.
The Teacher Education Development and Management Strategy (TDMS) waslaunched in 2007as a response to the challenges posed by PEDP and SEDP. The purposewas to ensure that the quantitative expansion does not inadvertently affect the competency, motivations, and commitment of the teachers and faculty (MoEVT, 2006:6). Among others, the strategy aims at obtaining and retaining high quality teachers at all levels.
While the desirability of education quality is obvious, the meaning attached to that goal is contestable. In the next section we discuss the quality phenomenon by looking at school quality indicators as established by educational research findings. The analysis is useful because without a common understanding of this key term, no meaningful discussion is possible.
THE QUALITY PHENOMENON
Tanzania’s economic and social health depends on the quality of its schools. If students are not taught the values and social skills necessary to become good citizens and do not learn the academic skills necessary to be economically productive, then the schools have not succeeded in their mission to attain the MKUKUTA, Education for All (EFA), and the Millennium Development (MDGs) goals. To ensure the existence of quality schools, school quality needs to be defined, assessed, and monitored.
Indicators of quality
Recent research (Greenwald, Hedges & Laine, 1996) indicates that school quality affects student learning through the training and talent of the teaching force, what goes on in the classrooms, and the overall culture and atmosphere of the school. Within these three areas there area number of indicators or school quality factors that can affect student learning both directly and indirectly. For example, school context characteristics like school leadership can have an impact on teachers and what they are able to accomplish in the classroom, and this in turn may influence student learning. In addition, various teacher-level attributes can affect the quality of the classroom and in turn student learning. Traits at each of these levels can also directly affect student learning.
Substantial research (Rivkin, Hanushek & Kain, 1998) suggests that school quality is enhanced when teachers have high academic skills, teach in the field in which they are trained, have more than a few years of experience, and participate in high-quality induction and professional development programs. Students learn more from teachers with strong academic skills and classroom teaching experience than they do from teachers with weak academic skills and less experience (Ballou, 1996; Ehrenberg & Brewer 1995). Teachers are less effective in terms of student outcomes when they teach courses they were not trained to teach. Teachers are thought to be more effective when they have participated in quality professional development activities, although there is no statistical evidence as yet to evaluate this relationship.
To understand the effectiveness of classrooms, research suggests that it is necessary to understand the content of the curriculum; the pedagogy, materials, and equipment used. Students appear to benefit when course content is focused and has a high level of intellectual rigor and cognitive challenge. Younger students, especially the disadvantaged, appear to learn better in smaller classes. More research is needed to further our understanding of the role of these factors in determining school quality.
How schools approach educational leadership and school goals, develop a professional community, and establish a climate that minimizes discipline problems and encourages academic excellence clearly affects school quality and student learning (Deal & Peterson, 1998; Fullan, 1998). For three reasons, however, the effect of school-level characteristics is more difficult to ascertain than the effect of teachers and classrooms. First, even though they are integral to a school, these characteristics are difficult to define and measure. Second, their effect on student learning is likely to be exerted indirectly through teachers and classrooms, compounding the measurement problem. And last, with some exceptions, reliable school-representative information about these indicators of quality is minimal. However, these difficulties should not overshadow the importance of collecting such data to learn more about how these characteristics operate and affect student learning through teachers and classrooms.
It is important to note that the ESDP concept of quality is holistic and considers all the indicators explained above. Nevertheless, at any given time in the implementation, certain aspects will be emphasized at the expense of others owing to resource constraints.
PRIORITIZED MILESTONES FOR 2008/09
The prioritized milestones set out in the 2008 JESR included the construction of primary and secondary school teachers’ houses; training of secondary school teachers, provision of teaching and learning facilities for secondary schools and higher learning institutions and rehabilitation of tertiary institutions. Arising from those priorities the key actions for 2008/09 by sub-sector were as outlined below.
Basic Education
For the Basic Education sub-sector the plan was to:
(i)develop the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Policy and Early Childhood Development Guidelines
(ii)provide development grant to support community efforts in the construction of 5,732 primary classrooms;
(iii)provide development grants for construction of 21,936 primary school teacher’s houses and construction of 726 secondary school teachers’ houses;
(iv)construction of 200 classrooms for A level;
(v)construction and equipping of 46 laboratories;
(vi)provide training to 18,000 pre-service and in-service teachers, for primary schools, 3,000 secondary schools licensed teachers and 240 teachers in special needs education;; and
(vii)Upgrading of 400 Grade B/C teachers to grade A through modules.
Higher Education
At the Higher Education sub-sector the plan for 2008/09 was to:
(i)provide loans to 60,000 needy students in local higher learning institutions and abroad;
(ii)provide financial support to 14 Higher Education Institutions;
(iii)provide sponsorship to 1,561 Medical Doctors, students studying at Local Higher Learning Institutions and abroad;
(iv)invest in priority disciplines for economic growth;
(v)expand capacity for teacher preparation and for graduate studies in education;
(vi)strengthening key higher education agencies and institutions;
(vii)support design and piloting activities in systemwide ICT and libraries; and
(viii)develop and finalize the Higher Education Development Programme (HEDP/MME).
Technical and Vocational Education and Training
This sub-sector planned to address the following issues:
(i)carry out needs assessment for the existing Vocational Education and TrainingCenters in 20 Councils by June 2009;
(ii)Rehabilitate 3 VET centers and commence the construction of 25 VET centers;
(iii)Rehabilitation and expansion of physical facilities in existing Technical institutions to accommodate increased enrolment;
(iv)Facilitate the upgrading of training at two Regional Vocational Training Centers to enable them offer technician programmes;
(v)Develop a curriculum/bridging programme that will enable VETA graduates proceed with training at higher levels (Technician Training);
(vi)Analyze the results of the labor market survey for improved planning and pertinence of vocational education; and
(vii)Develop the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Development Programme.
Folk Education
The prioritized actions for the Folk Education sub-sector included:
(i)Residential and outreach training for 30,000 participants;
(ii)Training of 100 FDC’s staff on various professional skills and refresher courses;
(iii)Improve ICT equipment and accessories to 30 FDCs;
(iv)Develop and install a harmonized Education Monitoring System;
(v)Equip 58 FDC’s with transport facilities.
ANALYSIS OF MEASURES TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESSES FOR QUALITY EDUCATION OUTCOMES
In reviewing the performance of the sub-sectors in relation to the prioritized milestones it is important to focus on two Key Result areas: first, Capabilities and skills of teachers/tutors/learners, and secondly, Institutional/School Processes and Incentives. Under the first key result area, it is important to look at three things:
(i)the kind of measures put in place in order to attract and retain the best available talents;
(ii)measures to continuously develop leadership/teachers’ skills to match the current and emerging challenges;
(iii)measures to improve learners’ achievement and attainment levels.
Within the second key result area, Institutional/school processes and incentives, we need to reflect on what has been achieved in the effort to create and improve on a conducive teaching and learning environment, teacher motivation, the use of learner friendly pedagogy, gender friendly environment, improved disability friendly environment, teachers/students’ appraisal and reward.