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イギリスから帰国した日本人大学生が設立。タンザニアとケニアへの訪問で学んだ事をもとに日本と東アフリカをつなぐ活動をする学生団体。共通の分野は開発であるが、細かいジャンルは経済、教育から文化までそれぞれ。今現在タンザニアの小さな村の幼稚園設立プロジェクトに携わっている。メンバー募集中。
Japan East Africa Network is a student organization that has been established for people around the world to be able to get to know east African countries. Each of the members have begun to do his/her own research on their unique topics of local Eastern African people's everyday life.
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Sunday, 20 February 2011

The role of education in developing countries-Part One-


Education has always been playing a significant role in developing a country. Without a qualitative education, states could hardly be politically and economically sustainable, and also the education makes people’s life easier in terms of health, technology, rights and status of women and other elements that construct a society. The Millennium Development Goal 2 declared to achieve universal primary education. ‘
Ensure that all children, both boys and girls, are able to attend and complete a full course of primary schooling.’ 

Tanzania where the number of children at primary school has dramatically increased has shown a potential of achieving the MDG. Since 1995, Tanzanian government has worked to improve its country’s education level, and by 2002 tuition fee for primary school was abolished and the government made school compulsory. Although enrolment of children aged 7 to 13 at primary school was 59% in 2000, it has risen to 95.4% in 2010. This substantial growth has proven a high potential of the government, and the government now believes that the MDG can be achieved in the near future. Despite the hope for the bright future of the country, Tanzania still has problems with education. The number of children who enrol in primary school has increased, the quality of education is, however, still doubtful.

Although enrolment of children at primary schools in Tanzania is 95.4%, it is said that the real enrolment figure is 77% and of these about 20% completes primary education. Now we have to look at the quality of education systems in Tanzania.

One of the causes that prevent children from schools is the cost for schools. Since Local Government Reform Act of 1998, local school committees gained responsibilities to organize primary education, and less developed regions have been given preferences in opening secondary schools or receiving assistance to do so. However, 18.7% of the population in Tanzania live on less than $1 per day and many parents in district areas want their children to stay home and help their work. In addition, because tuition fee for primary education was abolished, parents are expected to contribute to other costs, such as uniform, a cooker for lunch, the cost of the school guards, in some schools, a donation to the Aids bereavement fund for pupils who have lost one or more parents. Even after tuition fee for primary education was abolished, parents still have to be able to cover other costs for schools. 

Another cause that makes children out of school is a security for children, especially girls. Some female students have to walk more than a mile to get to their school, and on their way, they have to be careful of rapists. If they become pregnant, they have to leave school and can never come back as punishment under the Tanzanian law. Toilets in schools are mixed and often without doors causing girls embarrassment especially when they hit puberty. In rural areas, half of the pupils fail to qualify for secondary school and with 3000 girls dropping out because of pregnancy. 

Quantity has been also one of the main problems. School facilities cannot keep up with the need of the massive growth of enrolment; overcrowded classroom, shortage of books, teachers and toilets, corporal punishments, and lack of water and electricity. Now a ration of one teacher is to 63 pupils while UNESCO says it should be one teacher to less than 40 pupils. A cause of the lack of teachers may be that there is a small incentives to become a teacher because people may prefer to become lawyer or a doctor. Of those reasons, it is still difficult that education in Tanzania is decent in terms of quality.

It is significant to look very carefully at quality of education especially in rural areas in which many poor people live in order for them to seek for their own potential that leads to their own country's development, and therefore their own lives.

The gap of the government's recognition of the quality of education and civilian's recognition of those will be the next focus.





Junki Nitta



Reference

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/10/schools-worldwide-tanzania
http://www.nationmaster.com/time.php?stat=edu_chi_out_of_sch_pri&country=tz
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2010/sep/14/mdg2-education-tanzania
http://www.guardian.co.uk/katine/2010/feb/23/primary-education-africa
http://www.tanzania.go.tz/educationf.html

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