NN37, May 2006
Special Theme on Education and Training out of Poverty? A Status Report
NATIONAL PRESCHOOLING FOR POVERTY REDUCTION IN TANZANIA
By Lyabwene Mtahabwa, Faculty of Education, Hong Kong University (and Faculty of Education, Dar Es Salaam)
While all developing countries are investing in education as a key development strategy albeit amidst meagre national budgets, the long-term potential for success depends largely on the government?s ability to prioritise such investments within the education sector itself. Within the education sector, there is always a temptation of seeing investment in primary and other higher levels of education as the best strategy. While this is partially true, the solution is rather short-term and it tends to recycle poverty rather than combat it from its core. Investment in quality preschool education particularly for children in poverty-ridden areas has been found to fight poverty from the start. The fact is: the younger the child and the poorer the child?s family the higher the potential for preschool education to serve as long-term solution to poverty. Tanzania has since independence declared disease, ignorance and poverty as arch enemies of development. Various policies, plans and strategies have been adopted to fight these enemies with little positive results. What position does preschool education hold in the key documents against poverty in Tanzania? What is the actual status of preschool education in Tanzania? What can be done to this level of education for best results without compromising the other levels of education?The government?s initial commitment to the delivery of preschool education is manifested at a policy level. In Tanzania pre-primary education for the 5-6-year-olds was formalised and integrated into the education structure in 1995. Before this development, education for young children almost belonged to nobody. There were isolated and uncoordinated efforts by individuals and groups of people in the delivery of preschool education. Some of the key features of this policy include the exclusion of the 0-4-year-olds and keeping silent about several critical issues. They include quality of and access to preschool education by children from poor rural communities, regulatory and registration system, quality control mechanisms and professional standards. The historical and contextual analysis of the policy development process tends to suggest that global trends played a more active role than the internal demands. Some of the international commitments that Tanzania took up included the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and the World Declaration on Education for All (1990). The latter stated that education starts at birth while the former stressed that education was both a human basic need and right.
Preschool education in Tanzania holds a rather uncertain position in the key government documents. For instance, this education sub-sector remained undocumented in the Basic Education Statistics until 2004. While primary education occupies a central position in the documents related to the fight against poverty, preschool education appears to have less to contribute on this area. The latter is not a priority in the Tanzania Development Vision 2025, the National Poverty Eradication Strategy, and the Poverty Reduction Strategy. This would suggest that the government views preschool education as not being directly linked to development. It has been learnt that most developing countries accord preschool education a ?back-seat position? because ?The costs of intervening early are immediate, but the investment is long-term? (Doryan et al, 2002).
The status of preschool education in terms of quality and quantity varies with ownership and location of preschools. Most preschools in Tanzania are urban-based. In urban areas, privately owned preschools have better facilities and resources compared to the public ones. While this is the case in urban areas, rural areas have virtually remained uncared for. The government, like the profit seeking individuals and organisations, has never done any serious efforts to cater for the education of the young rural children. The few pre-primary schools attached to primary schools are poorly resourced. There has been excessive use of didactic teaching coupled with a push-down curriculum and a narrow focus on literacy and numeracy skills. This reduced attention given to the rural children and to the children of less than 5 years heralds a vicious circle of poverty following perpetuation of the existence of a less capable labour force in the future.
If preschool education is to yield substantial returns heightened awareness, political commitment and priority setting are of paramount importance. The government leaders need to understand that the neglected very young and rural children will ultimately enter the globalised labour market lacking the necessary skills. These skills include tenacity, self-discipline, motivation and other social skills. Awareness should trigger political commitment to invest in these areas. In a sense, the emphasis placed on formal schooling to the detriment of preschool education should be termed education for poverty reproduction when foresight is applied. Quality preschool education for the very young and rural children should be a government priority. Apart from being education for poverty reduction, preschool education in these areas would reduce the rural-urban inequality for political stability. As private preschools are concentrated in urban areas, the government should target to serve those in slums and rural areas. This would therefore not compromise other levels of education particularly when communities will sufficiently participate.
References
Doryan, A., Cautam, K. C. & Foege, W. H. (2002). The Political Challenge: Commitment and Cooperation. In M. E. Young (Ed.). Investing in Our Children?s
Future: From Early Childhood Development to Human Development (pp. 375-391). Washington D. C.: The World Bank.