Education in Tanzania

Education in Tanzania is provided both by the public sector and the private sector. The general structure is as follows

Each child who is not less than five years of age is eligible for enrollment for pre-primary education for a period of two years. Attendance is not compulsory.

Government primary schools teach in Swahili and English in the English medium based schools . A number of private primary schools, with substantial attendance fees, teach in English. Ethnic community languages (other than Kiswahili) are not allowed as language of instruction, neither are they taught as subjects, though they might be used unofficially (illegally) in some cases in initial education.

It is compulsory for every child who has reached the age of seven years to be enrolled for primary education.

Primary school tuition in public schools was eliminated in 2002, but families still must pay for school supplies.

Free tuition has led to a massive increase in the number of children enrolled in primary schools, from 4,839,361 in 2001 to 7,959,884 in 2006 to 8,410,000 in 2008.

This increase has not been accompanied by a proportional increase in resources for teachers, classrooms, and books. The ratio of pupils to qualified teachers nationwide in 2010 was 54:1, which was 35% above the goal of 40:1. Every region exceeded the goal except for Kilimanjaro and Dar es Salaam. Only three percent of students in Standard VI nationwide had sole use of a mathematics textbook in 2007 compared to seven percent in 2000.

In 2006, the gross primary enrollment rate was 110.3%, and the net primary enrollment rate was 97.8%. The "gross primary enrollment rate" is the ratio of the total number of students attending primary school to the official primary school-age population. The "net primary enrollment rate" is the ratio of the total number of primary school-age children enrolled in primary school to the official primary school-age population. These rates are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and, therefore, do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. In 2000, 57% of children age 5–14 years attended school.

The Tanzania Institute of Education is the main body responsible for developing the curriculum. It prepares programmes, syllabi, and pedagogical materials such as handbooks and laboratory manuals. It also specifies standards for educational materials, trains teachers in curriculum innovations, monitors curriculum implementation in schools, and evaluates and approves manuscripts intended for school use.

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