Away from Corporal Punishment in the Classroom: Practical Experience from the Field in Tanzania

Abstract

AbstractTanzania has had, over the past century or more, an educational system that reflects both the aspirations of and the disparities among its people. Initially, education was the responsibility of community elders, it was informal, and focused on life skills. Language use was largely oral, with influences from Arabic languages and cultures. While Tanzania was colonized by Germany in the late nineteenth century and was governed by Great Britain after World War I, schooling at the primary level in the country, was locally controlled, yet it began to mirror that of European nations, including the study of European languages, mathematics, and sciences. After Tanzania gained independence in the 1960s, its leaders established a national language (Kiswahili) to be taught in public primary schools. Through a socialist agenda, people were to place their children in primary schools—to support self-reliance and an economy of agriculture—with very few youth going beyond that level of schooling. School fees were eradicated in the public sector and enrollment in primary schools ballooned. These fees were reinstated in the 1980s with a concomitant drop in number of children attending primary school. Fees were again dropped in 2015. Progress in the education system has been made since independence; however, there are still areas that need improvement. Tanzania has a high enrollment rate at the primary school level but a huge number of students drop out before finishing their primary education. There is a national exam to move onto secondary school, and about 50% of students pass the exam and move on with another set of exams at the end of secondary school, in ten subjects (http://kisaproject.org). Eighteen percent of students pass to move into advanced levels of secondary schooling and, ultimately, college, typically in neighboring countries. In total, the enrollment for secondary education is 30.8% and for advanced secondary, only 1.9% (Fundi 2016; Mushi 2009). Students also have the option to seek vocational training or pay fees to attend private school (http://kisaproject.org).Language issues in Tanzanian schools continue to be a challenge. In public secondary schools, Kiswahili is used as the language of instruction while the exams are in English. The language of primary education is mixed, with many poor and rural children having no exposure to English despite it being the lanague in which the exams are given. As a result, the education system serves best those who can speak English—primarily the wealthy—and the majority of students only attain primary education level. There is no tutoring for children who fall behind, and although English is taught as a subject in primary school, many teachers themselves are not fluent (M. Yahl 2015, www.nyu.edu). Students attending public primary and secondary schools in rural areas often lack resources and adequate facilities for learning in any langauge. Moreover, there are no professional development opportunities for teachers to build their content-knowledge in English or any subject, nor are there professional development opportunities for building skill in pedagogical methods, classroom management, or differentiation (Fundi 2016).