There are now many more primary and secondary schools in Tanzania today than a decade ago. At least every village has two or more primary schools.
Ward secondary schools have been built in almost every corner of this vast country of over 50 million inhabitants.
Although there has been some criticism in some quarters, the foundation for greater achievements has been laid. However, we could not agree more with some of the critics of the need to go beyond quantity and look at the quality of the education being given to our young ones.
The stark reality is that trained teachers are in short supply and there is lack of key teaching aids and facilities such as laboratories. Also, teachers’ morale is low, as they are perhaps the most frustrated lot in the civil service due to poor pay and lack of staff housing, especially in the rural areas.
These shortcomings and requirements should now be seriously looked into. We need to train more teachers, and improve their working terms and conditions. Decent houses and good pay for teachers should motivate them to work even harder. And the result will be an improvement in the standard of education.
Teachers have a vital role to play in our society. Let us use the next decade to wipe the “poorest of the poor” tag off their faces.
