Main barriers to education
- Shortage of Trained Teachers
- Low-Level Learning Outcomes
Interventions to barriers:
- Teacher training
- Multi-sector capacity building
- Targeted OOSC Support
In response to the economic disparity, the Tanzanian Government has sought to introduce pro-poor policy measures and recognised education as a key driver of human development. To that end, the government has elaborated Tanzania Development Vision 2025, the National Strategy for Poverty Reduction and the Education Sector Development Programme to demonstrate its embrace of the goals of EFA. In 2002, school fees were abolished and primary education was made compulsory by law.
Although the government considers education instrumental to the country’s development prospects, access to quality primary education is still hindered by an array of challenges. A 2014 literacy survey revealed that low education levels on the part of parents, poverty, a lack of school infrastructure, early/forced marriage, and poor health and nutrition were determinative factors keeping/pushing children out of school in Tanzania.
To address these challenges, EAC and the Graça Machel Trust (GMT) have partnered to increase education access to some of the country’s most vulnerable OOSC. Through this initiative, the GMT will focus on reaching children in the impoverished rural areas of the northern Mara Region. Specific project interventions include: training school governing bodies (SGBs), district education officers and community volunteers on identifying and enrolling OOSC; organising Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) development-planning workshops for SGBs; literacy and numeracy training for teachers; and multi-sector collaboration with governmental and community-based stakeholders.