Tanzania
Summary
Tanzania inherited an elitism educational system but broadened it to create ample opportunities for its citizens. Most Africans were illiterate before independence, but this has been reduced to a minority of 35 percent and that number is still falling. Tanzania still plans to eradicate illiteracy, as well as ensuring full primary education to all Tanzanian children, improving the quality of education, and stressing science and technology in its schools. Access at all levels has dramatically increased since 1961. The Ugandan invasion caused massive diversions of expenditures and set back literacy campaigns and the expansion of educational opportunities. Despite this, primary education is now offered to almost every student, and secondary chances are expanding fast with the help of private schools. A growing gap between rich and poor students needs to be watched carefully, as does recurrent textbook shortages, low teacher salaries, and regional inequalities that persist. Swahili has grown in prominence since the Germans elevated it to the medium of instruction in their colonial schools. It is still the major medium of instruction at most levels of Tanzania's educational system. University populations are growing very fast, and Tanzania may soon be in a position to attract high tech industries because of the number of qualified engineers, computer programmers, and skilled workers that it is producing. Tanzania truly earned the World Bank's assessment of it as a "rising star" and a nation to watch, despite on-going problems.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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—Dallas L. Browne
Additional topics
Education - Free Encyclopedia Search EngineGlobal Education ReferenceTanzania - History Background, Constitutional Legal Foundations, Educational System—overview, Preprimary Primary Education, Secondary Education