The educational infrastructure of African countries has been under significant strain for a long time due to different socio-economic and political factors unique to each region. More specifically, Tanzania has been suffering from an acute educational crisis that has resulted in reduced education opportunities in Tanzania. With the help of several global partnerships like for example, with the United Nations, the country has recently stepped on the path to improving their education opportunities. Despite some recent developments in elementary-level education, the journey for the development of higher education in Tanzania is still an arduous one.
What are the Current Impediments?
According to the Cambridge Development Initiative, improving the quality of both primary, as well as higher education in Tanzania is a path that is sprinkled with serious challenges. Gender disparity is just one such social issue that has resulted in reduced access for rural girls and women to better education opportunities in Tanzania. Another such socio-economic issue that borders on the dysfunctionality of human resource within the country is that of youth unemployment and skillset mismatch. Infrastructural constraints like the lack of adequate competent teaching staff due to a massive brain drain are yet another obstacle towards establishing good educational infrastructure in Tanzania.
What are the steps being taken to overcome these?
Universities like the College of New Caledonia in Tanzania, in 2016, initiated a plan to improve vocational training in collaboration with Canada’s College of the Rockies. Such collaborative programs have to a great extent increased access to quality education opportunities in Tanzania. To improve educational infrastructure, companies like Halotel Telecom Company have worked closely with about 450 schools in the country to improve internet connectivity to facilitate advanced education in Tanzania at the school level. Finally, even the World Bank sanctioned a credit of $80 million in 2017 to help build a greater number of schools for increased access to basic education in Tanzania.
What More Can be Done?
The governmental educational policies of Tanzania need to be revised to accommodate meritorious students from poorer communities and provide them with an equal platform for competing against wealthier students. This needs to be done to ensure equity in education opportunities in Tanzania. Moreover, technological and communications infrastructure needs to be focused upon especially in the remote and backward region of the country to facilitate e-learning methods. In this way, students from these communities can gain access to quality higher education even without having to travel long distances to main cities.
What’s the Most Viable Alternative?
Due to such a condition of the education opportunities in Tanzania, ambitious and aspiring Tanzanian students have often opted to migrate to countries with a robust educational infrastructure to pursue their dreams. Many countries like India have been providing a cost-effective alternative for such Tanzanian students. Universities like Sharda University in the Greater Noida region of India have opened their doors to such meritorious Tanzanian students to allow them to spread their wings and achieve greatness. With the help of highly experienced faculty, Tanzanian students who enrol here achieve a great amount of success.
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