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Education standards fall cause for worry
2008-07-16 09:56:53
By Editor
A famous adage once cautioned about what should be given top priority for any long-term and serious plan to be successful.
Tersely, it suggests an acronym of five Ps, whose long form suggests that Preliminary Preparations Prevent Poor Performance.
The genuineness of the axiom cannot be over-emphasised for the reason that, probably, it says nothing but the truth.
Governments, institutions and even families have tried to accomplish any well intended plan of actions while oblivious of what the implications would be as a result of disregarding the five Ps .
With due fairness, the rising tide of mediocre education in Tanzania observable at all levels of formal public school system, boldly stands as a perfect example of planning process which has closed the eyes to the Ps.
This is so in resonate to the latest observations by Parliamentary Social Services Committee which have spoken not so well about the ongoing crash courses in teacher training to cater for increased students` enrolment in primary and secondary schools.
Somehow, the primary and secondary education programmes erroneously over-concentrated efforts at the physical expansion of facilities at public schools, in total disregard to what the expansionary move would objectively entail in terms of teaching and administrative staffing needs.
Consequently, we are now promoting a seriously dangerous programme in the teaching profession by pumping into public schools half baked teachers, woefully unqualified and unethical.
When the crash teachers’ training programme was launched, some analysts thought it was so adopted as a short-term strategy for addressing the massive increase in student enrolment, while government think tanks were cracking for lasting solutions.
Astonishingly, that assumption may not be the case as of now, much as the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training looks most likely determined to maintain crash teaching programmes as the norm, rather than the exception.
It is true, fast-tracking teachers` training sounds elegant for political expediencies, though risking evolving a Nation of Fools, hardly able to tackle the formidable challenges of globalisation.
The remedy for this crisis, partly lies in reorganising national education planning, this time around by enhancing quality parameters, and stop for a while building more schools.
In a poor country like Tanzania where teaching-learning environment is wanting for lack of basic teaching gadgets and other facilities, a qualified teacher definitely looks to be the most important teaching input.
To save the sinking boat, two planning directions are vital. First and foremost, crash courses in teachers` training must be abolished.
Secondly, in-service teaching programmes must be aggressively invigorated, especially by targeting to upgrade the lot of primary school teachers who are grade A.
At the same time, training more diploma teachers for manning rising number of public and private secondary schools is inevitable.
It is because of mediocre education system being delivered at lower levels of our schools that also directly fuels rising uncouth behaviour of forging certificates among candidates seeking entry qualifications to higher learning institutions.
That again goes with the fact that half education, indeed, is dangerous.
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