- A survey shows that school students in Tanzania face shame, and fear when speaking in English.
- Unlike in many parts of neighbouring Kenya or Uganda, English is not used as a language of instruction in schools in Tanzania until the learners join secondary schools at the age of 14
- How can Tanzania’s young people compete favourably with peers for global work opportunities?
A startling finding in Tanzania could see policymakers in the education sector go back to the drawing board after a survey revealed that school students face shame, and fear when speaking in English.
Unlike in many parts of neighbouring Kenya or Uganda, English is not used as a language of instruction in schools in Tanzania until the learners join secondary schools at the age of 14.
With most teachers translating many lessons into the national language Swahili, English is not used as a language of instruction in Tanzania’s primary schools.
A study Fear and Shame: students’ experiences in English-medium secondary classrooms in Tanzania, published in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development captures the challenge so well.
English is hard for students
“At the end of the lesson, after the teacher had left, I asked Alisha why she hadn’t just read her sentences. I knew that she had correct sentences because I had seen her group give their answers to Aiko (a student with good English) to check and she had even added more examples. I asked, ‘Kwa nini hukusoma tu? Ulikuwa na sentensi nzuri’ (Why didn’t you just read them? You had good sentences). Alisha said nothing, but she turned away from me and folded her entire body over as if she were trying to fit her head under the desk. I asked, ‘kwa nini unaogopa?’ (Why are you afraid?) and one of her friends replied, ‘anajiona aibu’. (She feels shame).
The study was carried out by Lael Adamson, a researcher from the University of Strathclyde.
In yet another revelation, Bunwenwe Mhoja, a Mwanza-based Form Two secondary school teacher says; “English language is hard for some of my students. Sometimes, they consult me out of class for further comprehension, coupled by code-switching (Swahili and English)”.
Battle between Swahili and English
For decades, the battle between Swahili and English language as medium of instruction in schools has featured across Tanzania’s public and private education sectors.
Lael Adamson study shows how unfamiliar instruction language (both to teachers and students) is blocking success of Tanzanian school goers as healthy learning interactions cripple under a cloud of shame and fear.
“Researchers have commonly found that the use of an unfamiliar Language of Instruction results in dramatically limiting classroom talk, either to rote, chorus responses, single word answers, or silence,” the research findings read in part.
The situation rails more attention its drawbacks and solutions as lack of understanding of language of learning breed low student participation, which is a big challenge Tanzania. Which begs the question: how can Tanzanian best brains compete with the rest of the world if English language is cumbersome for their comprehension?
Are Tanzanian students ready?
Over the past decades, think-tanks such as World Economic Forum, have pointed out the core vitality of developing top-notch education curriculums that foster unbeatable human capital in a competitive world.
Education is now an instrument of economic growth and efficient productivity. But increasingly, learning is assuming a different sphere, capital. With high quality education, comes human capital, an essential fuel for modern development currency, innovation and creativity.
Tanzania, an economy that aspires to dethrone Kenya as East Africa’s powerhouse, is facing multiple challenges in its education system. Technocrats and sector stakeholders are pointing out flaws in the delivery and relevance of what young-Tanzanian minds are getting.
The biggest thorn in the flesh is how English is threatening to derail the dreams of a majority of Tanzanian learners. About 40 percent of global population cannot access schooling in a language that they understand.
Tanzania commonly spoken language, Swahili, is used for instruction in primary schools (except private schools). All learners however use English as a medium of instruction in secondary schools and universities. This language switch is argued by Adamson, to be a cause for difficulty and poor outcomes.
However, Anitha Martin, a statistician, children book author (Swahili & English) and pro-Swahili advocates for culture change. “Despite being pro-swahili, I believe we need to change the way we speak and perceive English. We see it as the enemy, but we must love it, adopt it and use it parallel with Swahili”.
Anitha argues that most teacher’s English language comprehension is low, which worsens the situation.
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) points out that adult literacy rate in Tanzania stands at 77.89 percent. This percentage is a regression compared to 1970s when literacy rates stood around 90 percent.
Tanzania’s human capital
Countless times, Tanzanian high-school and university graduates have been exhibiting lower standards compared to their regional and global counterparts. A significant number of primary and secondary school students display lower literacy abilities.
The challenge is threatening to derail the ability of Tanzania’s human capital to power the country’s industrial-revolution. In a competitive driven economy, there is no room for err or wasting time. Meanwhile, the rest of the world ascends towards training its human capital to co-work with Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven robots, Tanzania seems to be losing precious time battling “petty” challenges.
The government of Tanzania is still faced with shorted of teachers, equipment, and classrooms for its growing population. Coupled with challenges such as medium of instruction in learning, developing a productive human capital could become a toll order.
As English language assumes greater international recognition as medium of communication, Tanzania has an urgent assignment at hand. The country of nearly 65 million people must urgently align its education system with global standards.
As part of improving her education systems, Tanzania is budgeting billions of shillings to upgrade infrastructure. In the last six years, Tanzania’s has been waging a war against lack of desks in classrooms. The campaign has seen well wishers provide huge donations and contributions of desks nationwide.
Tanzania transforming education
Through a $500 million partnership with the World Bank, over 12 million Tanzanian primary school children are getting better primary education. The project regarded as BOOST Primary Student Learning Program is a product of collaborative efforts. It seeks to increase capacities of the entire sector from students and teachers to institutional frameworks.
The launch of Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project (2022) is one of education transformation initiatives. Tanzania is pivoting on this plan to enhance its talent pool to power its economy.
The five-year venture worth around $425 million is supported by the World Bank. HEET is supporting Tanzania’s efforts in unleashing the power of higher education to propel the country’s economic transformation.
In the same spirit, perhaps the country should consider introducing learners to the English language at early stage. This will see the country avoid the challenges learners are facing with the language at secondary schools.
The World Bank’s country director Preeti Arora says by 2030, 1.6 million Tanzania youth will be joining the labour market annually. The need for significant and smart investment in the personal and economic vitality of this generation is therefore vital.
Preparation for labour market
“HEET project, which targets 14 priority areas for Tanzania’s economic growth, will help to address this critical need for high-skilled workers prepared for the labour market of both today and the future,” she noted.
Additionally, the project aims at equiping young-minds with innovation mechanism supported by funding through institution-specific strategic investment plans.
Across the board, Tanzania’s education sector remains stressed by several key factors. These include inequitable access to early learning and primary education for rural marginalized and vulnerable groups. There are also inadequate school learning environments exacerbated by declining financing amid huge school populations. The country is also battling with a shortage of teachers and low teacher competencies.
