Higher Education In Tanzania: A Case Study – Economic, Political And Education Sector Transformations
Editor’s Note: The following is a selected chapter from the report HIGHER EDUCATION IN TANZANIA: A CASE STUDY, which was originally published October 2001 in The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa.
Vital Facts and Figures
Location: Situated in East Africa between Kenya, Mozambique and bordering the Indian Ocean. Includes the islands of Mafia, Pemba and Zanzibar.
Capital: Dar es Salaam
Population: 37,187,939
Population growth rate: 2.6% (2002 est.)
Number of people infected with HIV/AIDS virus: 1.3 million (1999 est.)
Religions: Mainland: Christian 30%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35%; Zanzibar: more than 99% Muslim.
Official languages: Kiswahili and English. English is the primary language used in commerce, administration, and higher education. Arabic is widely spoken in Zanzibar.
Literacy: 67.8%
Primary Education
Lower Primary Ages 7 to 11
Upper Primary: Ages 11 to 14
Certificate/diploma awarded: Primary School Leaving Certificate
Secondary Education
Lower Secondary: Ages 14 to 18
Certificate/diploma awarded: Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE)
Upper Secondary: Ages 18 to 20
Certificate/diploma awarded: Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education (ACSE)
Higher Education
Admission: Certificate of Secondary Education or Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education. Applicants are also required to fulfill six months of national service training before entering an institution of higher education.
Language of instruction: English
Academic year: September to July
Programs and Degrees
Stage I: The Bachelor’s degree requires four years of full-time study.
Stage II: An additional one to three years following the bachelor’s leads to a Master’s degree.
Stage III: The Ph.D. requires an additional two years of intensive research (including the writing of a dissertation) after the master’s degree.
Teacher Education
Primary
Grade C Certificate: Requires three years of study and qualifies the holder to teach the first two grades of primary education.
Grade B Certificate: The Grade B Certificate is obtained by promotion or by successfully completing a four-year course at a teacher training college after grade 7
Grade A Certificate: Granted after successful completion of a two-year course after the end of form IV and qualifies the holder to teach in all seven grades of primary education.
Secondary
Lower: A two-year diploma course at a teacher training college after passing the ACSE.
Upper: Teachers for upper secondary level should hold a bachelor of education or a postgraduate diploma in education.
Useful Web Sites
- Vocational Education and Training in Tanzania
- Listing of universities and education organizations in Tanzania
- Tanzania-No Longer Free
- Education in Tanzania: Can you afford to go to school?
- Distance Education in Tanzania
Along with the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, Tanzania is experiencing a period of rapid political and economic change. Heavily influenced by the International Financial Institutions and bilateral donors, the process of change encompasses both political pluralism and economic liberalization. Tanzania’s starting point for these basic transitions was a highly centralized, single-party state, weak civil society institutions and an economy largely dominated by state-owned industrial, financial and marketing monopolies.
The likelihood of a successful transformation process at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is conditioned by the nature and magnitude of these changes. For example, trends towards more representative government will affect the extent to which the political elite is prepared to loosen up central government controls of higher education finance and management. Similarly, economic growth affects the tax base of the country and the possibility of increasing official funding for higher education as well as the potential for cost-sharing measures. Economic growth is a precondition for job creation and the employment (including self-employment) of UDSM and other graduates. Policy choices (and non-choices) influence the total revenues available for education overall and higher education in particular, as well as the nature and extent of measures taken to reduce recruitment inequalities based on class, gender, or other factors.
Educational and employment policies have had to adjust to reflect these emerging political and economic trends. Yet the reality of continued low enrollments and poor quality and performance bear testament to how much still remains to be done.
Trends in primary and secondary education
Net primary school enrollment rates were 57 per cent in 1998 compared to 67 percent a decade earlier. Only one third of seven-to-nine year-olds are in school, rising to over 80 per cent of 10-14 year-olds.
Secondary enrollments grew by more than half (56 per cent) between 1990 and 1998, with all the increase taking place in the state sector. Private school enrollments actually fell during this period. Despite recent growth, secondary enrollment rates in Tanzania are still among the lowest in Africa and the world.
Urban-rural and district-level inequalities in primary educational inputs and outputs are significant, despite official policies aimed at equity. On a combined index based on enrollment rates, proportion of Grade A teachers, pupil-teacher ratios, class size and school-leaving examination results, eight of the top ten districts were regional headquarters.
Gender inequalities in schooling increase from the primary level upwards. Girls’ performance is significantly below that of boys at the primary school leaving examination, particularly in mathematics, as well as at “O” level (Form 4) and “A” levels (Form 6). There is some evidence that social inequalities in school selection have increased over time.
The growth of private secondary schooling in the ‘eighties led to growing inequalities in educational opportunities. By 1992, Christian churches ran nearly half of private secondary schools whereas only six per cent were run by the official Muslim school body.
Higher education policy
Tanzania’s Development Vision 2025 proposes “a well-educated and learning society” as one of five major attributes. The others are “a high-quality livelihood; peace, stability and unity; good governance;” and a “competitive economy capable of producing sustainable growth and shared benefits.” Education and knowledge will instill “a developmental mindset and competitive spirit.”
The national Higher Education Policy (1999) lists the major problems facing higher education in Tanzania:
- appallingly low student enrolment;
- gross imbalance in science relative to liberal arts;
- gender imbalance;
- poor financing;
- unregulated, uncontrolled proliferation of tertiary training institutions;
- a tendency to distort the real worth of academic programs.
A number of strategies have been proposed to address these problems. For example, higher enrollments can be achieved by expanding public facilities and encouraging private universities, cost sharing, affirmative action to expand female participation, more non-residential places, efficiency gains and distance education. Although the policy favors increased official funding for higher education, the idea of an earmarked education tax, mooted elsewhere as a means of “ring-fencing” education spending, is not mentioned.
Higher education curricula should be:
geared towards … the changing world of science and technology and the corresponding ever-changing needs of the people, their government, industry, commerce and the surrounding environment in general. As agriculture will continue to be the backbone of the economy, agricultural-related disciplines and technologies shall be given priority.
Training and research objectives shall target the development and promotion of a strong indigenous base of science and technology to enable Tanzanians to solve their development problems.
University enrollments: growth, quality and equity concerns
The policy favoring the growth of primary at the expense of secondary education during the ‘seventies meant that the number of high school graduates qualifying for university places was severely constrained. UDSM enrollments tripled between 1967 and 1976, from 711 to 2,145 students. Thereafter expansion virtually ceased: between 1984 and 1993, UDSM enrollments rose only from 2,913 to 2,968, less than 2 per cent. By 1990, Tanzania had only 3,146 students attending its two universities, less than one-tenth of the number in Kenya. Enrollments in the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) actually fell, from 465 in 1986 to 383 in 1990. The slow growth in enrollments in Tanzanian higher education contrasts with the trend sub-Saharan Africa overall, where enrolments grew by over sixty per cent during the ‘eighties.
More recently, total enrolments have risen sharply. New universities have opened, and existing ones have increased their student intake.
| University undergraduate enrollment in Tanzania, 1985-2000 | ||||||
| 1985/86 | 1995/96 | 1996/97 | 1997/98 | 1998/99 | 1999/00 | |
| University of Dar es Salaam | 2,987 | 3,544 | 3,770 | 4,131 | 4,172 | 4,816 |
| Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences | — | 357 | 379 | 443 | 548 | 626 |
| University College of Landsand Architectural Studies | — | — | 91 | 463 | 501 | 728 |
| Sokoine University of Agriculture | 480 | 1,100 | 1,040 | 1,253 | 1,300 | 1,425 |
| Others | — | — | — | — | — | 1,459 |
| Total | 3,467 | 5,001 | 5,280 | 6,290 | 6,521 | 9,054 |
Source: MSTHE, Some Basic Statistics.
New private universities are in the process of registration with the newly established Higher Education Accreditation Council. The Catholic Church operates Augustine University (Mwanza), and the Lutheran Church owns Tumaini University, with campuses in Arusha, Iringa and Moshi. There are two private medical universities, both in Dar es Salaam, and one public and two private universities planned for Zanzibar. Bukoba University is described as semi-private. Other universities are planned through upgrading various existing post-secondary training institutes. Yet other planned colleges have religious or private sponsors.
Four students out of ten attending Tumaini University are female, a very creditable performance given that almost exclusively men take the major courses in theology and divinity. A quarter of Zanzibar University (business administration and law) students are female, which is about the same percentage as that at UDSM. Figures on gender balance are not available for other colleges.
As well as degree courses, the new universities also offer diplomas in nursing, accountancy and journalism, among other fields.
Recently, undergraduate numbers have grown rapidly at UDSM. Between 1992 and 1999, first-year admissions at UDSM rose from 883 to 2,055, an increase of 133 per cent. The number of graduates has also started to rise. The main campus and the Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences (MUCHS) produced 777 graduates in 1992, rising to 1,167 in 1998, an increase of fifty per cent. During the same period, the number of postgraduate degrees awarded increased from 110 to 126.
Does expansion help the poor and disadvantaged?
There are no data on trends in the recruitment of disadvantaged students at UDSM, but a few general points are in order. The relevant dimensions of inequality are gender, religion, ethnicity, culture and class. These are interrelated in multiple ways.
More students with “A” level certificates means a growing pool of potential university students. University expansion will absorb a growing number of school leavers with the minimum entry qualifications. However, it is not self-evident that expanding undergraduate enrolments at UDSM and other Tanzanian universities will significantly improve the educational opportunities for the children of the poor, girls and non-Christian students.
As described above, the Faculty of Commerce and Management (FCM) tracer study found that over two-fifths of former students sampled were from two regions alone, Kilimanjaro (26 per cent) and Kagera (15 per cent). Two-thirds came from only six of Tanzania’s 22 regions. The sample consisted of 85 per cent Christians and 14 per cent Muslims. Twenty-two per cent were women.
Gender dimension
Less than a quarter of UDSM undergraduates are female. Science and engineering subjects enroll many fewer female students than arts and social sciences. Female students comprised 17 per cent of first-year admissions on the main campus in 1992-1993, rising to 26 per cent during the 2000-2001. For MUCHS, the comparable figures were 28.3 per cent and 27.0 per cent. Female students accounted for 15.4 per cent of UCLAS’ first intake in 1996, falling to 11.7 in the year 2000. Women account for 20 per cent of Open University of Tanzania‘s (OUT) new students in 1999. Thus, trends in gender-based selection during the recent period of expansion show some gains and some setbacks for female students.
Of the 804 Tanzanian students obtaining postgraduate degrees between 1992 and 1998, only 20 per cent were female, with large variations between arts and science. Although exact figures are not available, the majority of female students were Christian, with a disproportionate number coming from Kilimanjaro Region.
The university has already taken some practical measures to promote an increased number of female students:
- Lowering entry cut-off point by 1.5 points for women.
- Conducting a pre-entry program for women wanting to join science-based programs.
- Giving a tuition waiver of 20 per cent to female students who join the university under the Human Resources Development Trust Fund scheme operating in the Faculty of Engineering.
- Giving women priority in campus accommodation.
Diluting student quality?
Whether this expansion implies a dilution in the qualifications of first-year students depends on trends in secondary school outputs in the appropriate disciplines (number and standard of ‘A’ level passes) and the discriminatory powers of the selection process (are ‘A’ levels and UDSM selection procedures working efficiently?). Another factor might be the number of fee-paying students, who for the moment are still very few.
Following claims of examination irregularities and the forging of examination certificates, 1999-2000 first-year students on the main campus were given a number of tests, in English, mathematics, general knowledge and ‘A’ level subjects of specialization. Although the results have not yet been made public, it seems that performance was generally quite reasonable. In future, the matriculation examination will be used to select first-year entrants after an initial screening of students’ ‘A’ level results.
Detailed analysis of these factors is beyond the scope of the present review, but a few empirical observations are in order.
The number of ‘A’ level candidates was 5,032 in 1991, rising to 6,867 in 1995 and 9,593 in 1998. In the latter year, just over 6,000 students obtained divisions I to III in their Advanced Certificates and 2,310 obtained divisions I and II. In 1999, UDSM’s three campuses combined enrolled just over 2,000 new students, and SUA, a further 608.
The older generation of UDSM staff and administrators shares the belief that the academic standards of school leavers and university students has fallen steadily over the years, reflecting the overall declining quality of the national education system. Students, they feel, are particularly lacking in command of written and spoken English.
The academic audit observed that students exhibited problems of speaking, writing and self-expression in English. Moreover, the audit said that “English will be equally problematic among teachers as the university will be compelled to recruit young staff in the face of a massive exit (retiring) of the current older teaching cadre in the next four or five years.”
Many older faculty members feel that the new generation of university teachers is broadly lacking in the basic skills required for intellectual leadership. Since such perceptions are typical between the generations, they have to be assessed with care, but there is clearly real cause for concern.
The HIV/AIDS situation at UDSM
Global HIV/AID statistics as well as statistics from the Tanzanian Ministry of Health indicate that about half of the newly-infected are in the 15-34 age range, which is quite similar to the UDSM student age group. The HIV/AIDS situation in Tanzania is worse than that of North and West Africa and better than Southern Africa’s. As is well known, two-thirds of the world’s HIV/AIDS cases are in sub-Saharan Africa.
At UDSM, between 1986 and 1999 there were 40 reported AIDS cases among students and 106 among staff. The cumulative deaths from HIV/AIDS-related causes among students at the main campus and staff members were 16 and 49 respectively. While these are only the reported cases, they have had a severe impact on the university, although the impact has not been quantified. The situation requires prudent control measures. The negative effects of HIV/AIDS include:
- Loss of investments in human capital.
- Loss of the only available professionals in certain disciplines.
- Increased workloads for faculty due to increased student-staff ratio.
- Loss of work hours through death or illness.
- Social stigma resulting in dropouts or even suicide.
- Increased social welfare and medical costs.
The university has established preventive and intervention programs in response to the alarming situation, namely:
- Preventive and curative services at the University Health Center.
- University Health Education Program.
- University-based Youth Reproductive Health Program.
Although these efforts have helped to improve awareness about HIV/AIDS, they are far from sufficient. Much more needs to be done, given the magnitude of the problem. Among the obstacles faced in these efforts, even at university level, are the cultural taboos forbidding open discussion of sexual behavior.
Changes in the legal framework
Proposed legislation
The University of Dar es Salaam Act No. 12 of 1970, dating from its establishment, is regarded as a major constraint in bringing about desired institutional changes. The Act was designed on the premise of state control, single-party politics and a monolithic party ideology. Section 4(a) of the Act still states that “The objects and functions of the University shall be to preserve, transmit and enhance knowledge for the benefit of the people of Tanzania in accordance with the principles of socialism accepted by the people of Tanzania.” Realizing that the Act is outdated, the university has been working on various fronts to amend it radically or to replace it with another act designed to meet the challenges of the present and future. The fast-changing socio-economic environment and the revised mission, objectives, functions, strategies and long-term plan of UDSM require an appropriate legal framework in order to acquire validity and legitimacy. To this effect, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MSTHE) and the university have jointly proposed a draft bill, frequently referred to as the “university umbrella act.” The proposed bill, on its way to parliament, includes:
A broadening, revising and expansion of the objectives and functions of the university to reflect its new vision, policies and strategies.
Provision for a flexible university act that accords the university both increased external and internal autonomy in such strategic aspects as appointments, governance, finance management, enrolment growth rates, structural reforms and policy issues.
Recognition of the public nature of the institution without hindering it from developing strategic alliances with various stakeholders in areas crucial to its development and self sustenance, such as delivery of its programs as well as the funding and marketing of its products.
Creation of relevant institutional mechanisms to enable the UDSM to respond in timely fashion to rapid socio-economic changes.
Commission of Higher Education
The proposed act provides for the establishment of a Commission of Higher Education whose functions would include:
- promoting the objectives of higher education
- auditing on a regular basis to ensure the quality of higher education
- promoting cooperation among higher education institutions in Tanzania
The proposed act also provides for the establishment of a Committee of Vice Chancellors, Principals and Directors that would have a vital role to play in the affairs of the Higher Education Commission.
Selection of the vice chancellor and other officials
The 1970 Act provides for the appointment of most key administrative officers (vice chancellor, CACO and CADO, deans and directors) by the president in his role as chancellor. The 1990 amendment to the Act separated the function of president from that of chancellor. Consequently, all but the three top officials became appointees of the chancellor. The top three are still presidential appointees, with appointments for an indefinite period. In the proposed new act, all key administrative officers are appointed by the Council for a definite period of tenure. The new act specifies their identification by a research committee or from public advertisement. Under the proposed act, the President appoints only the chancellor and the Chairman, for a definite period of tenure.
It should be noted that the proposed act makes no mention of gender.
© Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation,1998-2002. All rights reserved.