The politics of the education budget: Financing mass secondary education in Tanzania (2004–2012)

Abstract

This article examines the budget dimension of the rapid expansion of secondary education in Tanzania since 2004. It aims to illuminate important challenges associated with the current international call for universal secondary education and for domestic revenue mobilization to fill the significant financial gap to achieve SDG 4 by 2030. The article sheds light on critical political factors that shaped Tanzania’s education budget allocation, a topic scarcely scholarly investigated. In light of the analysis, the article concludes that tax justice, at global and national level, needs to guide any ambitious agenda for action to finance quality education for all.