Hey everybody, hope all are well. Busy, busy, busy here in the Mosh with Carla here on her annual "40 days and 40 nights" trip to Tanz plus my Aunty Jane and her friend Marie-Louise who, after a week of Moshi mishemishe'ing (going here and there), will soon leave us for the wonders of Serengeti followed by Zanzibar.
Also,
we have a new volunteer in the hizzy: Kaitlin Marrs, a
nineteen-year-old American missy on a gap semester has blessed The Toa
Nafasi Project with her youth and enthusiasm. Just in time as far as I'm concerned; this year has me feeling more aged and fatigued than ever before.
More on Kaitlin later, while for now I leave you with this article I found from The Citizen earlier this year.
Do
you remember my blog post last year round this time titled "Dear Joyce"
(http://toanafasi.blogspot.com/2016/01/dear-joyce.html)? It was an
open letter from the media writer at The Daily News, pleading
with the newly appointed Education Minister under Magufuli, Joyce
Ndalichako, to do her due diligence in her new post.
A year later, and Mama Joyce has lots to show for her time in office - the good, the bad, and the ugly - as you will read below. I
thought it was a timely piece to reprint now as our own newly minted
Education Secretary in the United States is making also making
headlines.
Never a dull moment in politics - this much I know is true!
####
Tanzania: Ndalichako's Popular, Controversial Orders
There were hopes that things would change for the better in the
education sector when President John Magufuli appointed Professor Joyce
Ndalichako as the Minister of Education, Science, Technology, and
Vocational Training.
Stakeholders were
optimistic that her appointment would bring positive change in the
sector that over the years has been facing numerous challenges,
particularly in the quality of education and addressing teachers' woes.
As the year 2016 wound up, a lot has happened in Professor Ndalichako's docket, some of
which she has been praised for and some she has been criticized for by
education stakeholders and experts.
Her statements and decisions in the last twelve months have been a source of hot and endless debates.
GPA System Ditched
On January 20th while
in Dodoma, Professor Ndalichako announced that Tanzania would stop using the grade point
average (GPA) system to grade candidates in national Form Four and Six
examinations. She directed the National Examinations Council of
Tanzania (NECTA) to immediately revert to the division system, which was
abolished in 2014.
Her decision to
restore the old system was made after NECTA had failed to convince her
on the advantages of the GPA system over the division system they
previously used.
Professor Ndalichako
said that NECTA had switched following
recommendations by stakeholders. "However, we are not told who these
stakeholders were: how many were they, where did they meet, and what
exactly did they suggest. It shows that this is just an excuse."
"Yes, we need
change, but change should be informed and backed by scientific grounds. If change doesn't conform to these tenets, then it is undesirable," Professor
Ndalichako said.
The decision to
introduce the GPA grading system almost cost NECTA Executive Director,
Dr. Charles Msonde, his job, two weeks before the Minister decided to
ditch it.
Professor Ndalichako's
decision to stop the use of GPA in grading was well-received by
education stakeholders and experts, who said the system was
unjustifiable and would affect efforts being made to achieve the goal of
quality education.
700 UDOM Students Expelled
In May, Professor
Ndalichako announced the expulsion of 782 students who were pursuing a
special diploma in science education at the University of Dodoma.
The move followed
reports that lecturers instructing them in their program had boycotted
after the government had disagreed with them regarding their
remuneration.
The Minister's
decision raised public concern over the fate of the students who were
given 72 hours to leave the campus premises.
Members of Parliament,
lecturers, and education experts expressed grave concern on the way the
Minister had handled the matter.
A few weeks later,
fresh details emerged on the true cause of the expulsion of the students
when President John Magufuli addressed the University of Dar es Salaam
(UDSM) community on June 3rd.
He
told the
gathering that preliminary findings showed that the majority of UDOM
students who were admitted to pursue a special Diploma in Science
(Education) lacked pre-entry qualifications, with some them achieving as
low as Division Four in their national Form Four results.
On July 20th, Professor
Ndalichako called back to the university only 382 students of the 782
initially enrolled, saying the vetting exercise had established that
they were the only ones qualified for admission to the special diploma
courses.
But the Minister
had later reallocated the students to various teaching colleges in
Morogoro, Butimba, Mpwapwa, Songea, and Tukuyu to pursue primary school
teaching courses. And those who were in their second year were
reallocated to Kasulu and Korogwe to complete their studies.
Student Battering
On October 10th, Professor
Ndalichako ordered the expulsion of three trainee teachers after they
were seen battering an Mbeya secondary school student in footage that
went viral on social media.
In addition to
that, the school's head teacher was also demoted as directed by the
Minister in the President's Office (Regional Administration and Local
Authorities), Mr. George Simbachawene.
The video shows three trainee teachers from the University of Dar es Salaam beating up a student at Mbeya Day Secondary School.
Professor Ndalichako
described the incident that occurred September 28th, as unethical, cruel,
and criminal, adding that the trainee teachers had lost their
opportunity to complete their studies.
The decision was however taken by some education stakeholders as an overreaction of the responsible ministers.
Order on Graduation Gowns
Professor Ndalichako
banned the wearing of graduation gown on levels below the first degree
"to encourage those in lower levels to desire to reach the top levels." This statement was released on November 10th.
She said it was
undesirable for the gowns to be worn by children in nursery schools,
which defeated the whole purpose of making it unique for the degree
level.
She said that as
the government tries to improve the quality of education matching the
growth of science and technology, it was important to differentiate
different levels of education so that to motivate the lower level
students to climb even higher in the education ladder.
Various education
stakeholders hailed Professor Ndalichako's decision, pointing out that it had
reached a point where people took the graduation gown as a parting dress.
Ban on Textbooks
On December 2nd,
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa banned private companies from publishing
textbooks as one of the measures to ensure provision of quality
education in the country.
Instead, he instructed the Tanzania Education
Authority (TEA) to supervise the publishing of all textbooks used in
schools in the country.
He said that apart from
ensuring quality education, the government also aims to enable each
student to use his or her own book in the classroom.
Mr. Majaliwa said
different firms have been publishing textbooks without adhering to given
standards and that there have been many complaints due to poor quality
and many mistakes.
The decision drew
various reactions from education stakeholders, with some expressing
disappointment, arguing that the decision would further sink the
country's education sector.
