i) Trace the origin and development of the history of education in mtwara region before the coming of colonial masters i) Outline all education policies and act before independence in Tanzania to present.

STELLA MARIS MTWARA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

(A constituent college of St. Augustine university of Tanzania)                                                     

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT                           : EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

COURSE TITLE                          : HISTORY OF EDUCATION

COURSE CORDE                       : EF 200

COURSE INSTRUCTOR          : MZAURA

NATURE OF ASSIGNMENT   : INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

ATTEMPTED BY                       : ADELPHINA P SHIRIMA

REGISTRATION NUMBER      : STE/BAED/164069

SUBMISSION DATE                  :

TASK:  

i) Trace the  origin  and development  of the  history  of  education  in mtwara  region  before the  coming  of  colonial masters

i) Outline all education policies and act before independence   in Tanzania to present.

 

HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN MTWARA REGION

 Introduction

According to Fafanwa (1974) defines education as what each generation gives its younger ones, which makes them to develop attitudes, abilities, skills and other behaviors which are of positive value to the society in which they live. Education can take place in formal, non-formal or informal settings and any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels or acts may be considered education.

Phase of education in Mtwara

 Pre-colonial education (indigenous education)

Mush, (2009) defines African indigenous education as a process of passing among the tribal members and from one generation to another the inherited knowledge skills, cultural traditions norms and values of the tribe. Indigenous education in Mtwara was about society in which people live based on their cultural activities such as jando and unyago, songs and dances; economic activities such as agriculture, fishing, mining and trade; political activities such as preparation of younger people to be future leaders.

Indigenous education in Mtwara region was conducted informally through economic activities, people who lived along the coast areas practiced mining activities such as extraction of salt for example at Mikindani, fishing activities where by different people acquired knowledge and skills on how to fish for example Maraba tribe were predominant in this activity while people lived away from coastal areas were engaged in agricultural activities such as cultivation of cassava at Newara and rooting of roots known as Ming'oko.

Through cultural practice, ethnically Mtwara is the region consisting different tribes such as makua, makonde and maraba and both tribes shared some cultural practices such as songs, dances as well as jando and unyago which conducted to children with 7-10 years, through this cultural practices Yong people were trained on how to be responsible, behave and caring their families including marriage. This practice maintained the ethical Conduct of these societies from one generation to another and these can be proved even now days.

Through political activities, historically Mtwara societies were matrimonial by nature that means all powers were under mother's domination and even names of their children were named in mother's side, so the education conducted was intended to prepare female children to be good leaders of their family. Examples of these materinnial found at Mtwara are Makonde and Makua as well as Maraba.

Importance /strengths of indigenous education by then and up to now.

The education trained children to behave in a good manner and having discipline to elders, this education is relevant even now days because even in families children are taught on how to behave and respect elders in the community.

The education given to people was both theoretical and practically. For example Oral traditions as well as physical activities such as agriculture, mining and fishing. This form of education still practiced in modern society since people are engaged in agricultural activities as well as rooting of roots known as "Ming'oko".

There was no people with less employment, this is because each group had its own responsibilities due to the presence of different economic activities such as agriculture, mining, fishing and trade so these made them to be busy on working, this education is relevant due to the fact that for the society which still conserving such kind of education no person who cry for employment from the government otherwise they employ themselves due to the availability of resources that Mtwara have (land, minerals and oceans).

The education was for every member of the society, this is due to the reason that every person started to get education when he or she was young and each stage of growth has its own education and every member of the society was responsible in education through transmission of values and knowledge of the particular society. This is related with now days education due to the reason that the government of Tanzania /Mtwara put emphasis on every children to acquire primary education as well as secondary education and this is proved under the presence of free education from primary to secondary school (o-level).

It created togetherness among members of the community, this is due to reason that people were interacted through communal living system were members of the society shared major means of production as well as exchange of goods(batter system), hence this improved unity among members of the society. This education is important /relevant now days in modern education due to the reason that people from different areas of the region or country met together through schools ,colleges, vocational training centre and universities hence this makes togetherness among members of the region or country.

 Weaknesses /challenges of this education. 

The education lacked uniformity, this is due to the reason that education mainly based on nature of environment in which people they lived. For example people lived along the coast areas were engaged in fishing and salt making while those who lived in rock land areas were engaged in crops cultivation and animal keeping as well as hunting.

The education was unstructured, that means that the education had no organized syllabus and curriculum so brings difficult to attain understanding on which kind of general education provided to Mtwara region.

Only elders were the source of knowledge, due to this reason no body allowed to challenge or argue much on the form of education provided by elders and what decided by elders were what implemented by other members without reasoning or challenging them.

The education was mainly informal, due to this fact the education was orally provided that gives difficult on attaining clear data about the education provided and there is no documentation that show such kind of Mtwara society and even the entire country as well as continent. Fafanwa. (1974) & Mushi. P.A.K. (2009).

b) Formal educational policies in Tanzania from independence until the present. Since independence in 1961, the government of Tanzania has attempted several times to reform the educational system to meet their development objectives different objectives and generate desired outcomes. This thesis compares the 1967 Education for Self-Reliance policy with the most recent 1995 Education and Training Policy by taking a historical view of the role of work-oriented education in primary and secondary institutions by Wim Hoppers (1996), The most significant of these changes is a shift in emphasis from rural-oriented vocational education to technology education as the major focus of work-oriented education, demonstrated through supplementary education policies such as the 2007 Information and Communication Technology policy.

Education in mtwara is provided by the public and private sectors, starting with pre-primary education, followed by primary, secondary ordinary, secondary advanced, and ideally, university level education. The Tanzanian government began to emphasize the importance of education shortly after its independence in 1961. Curriculum is standardized by level, and it is the basis for the national examinations. Achievement levels are important, yet there are various causes of children not receiving the education that they need, including the need to help families with work, poor accessibility, and a variety of learning disabilities. While there is a lack of resources for special needs education, Tanzania has committed to inclusive education and attention on disadvantaged learners, as pointed out in the 2006 Education Sector Review AIDE-MEMORE.

Education policies and act before independence   in Tanzania to present

Expansion of education 1961 up to 1967, in this we can divide into three period of time such as Nationalism,Developmentalism and Africanisation,(Mbenna,2009)

Establishment of education for self-reliance 1968 up 1974, on 5^th February 1967 the late Mwalimu Julius.K.Nyerere announced the Arusha decralation,the aim was to built self reliance for everybody and  put emphasis on education to be provided must serve the society to make sure that there is independent in production. This education was to make the students to be qualified education must employed themselves in different works without depending on government only,(Mbenna,2009).

Universal primary Education in 1974 ,originated to Musoma resolution on 1974, the government started to ensure to be committed itself to reach Universal Primary Education (UPE). The aim was to improve the quality of access to education and to teach agricultural skills that will ensure efficient and self-reliance for rural communities, during this reform. In order to achieve UPE the government made series of changes to develop the schooling infrastructure to make sure that the children of the 7 years up to 13 years should reach at least standard seven (7) that is compulsory education. In Mtwara region was designed to make sure that all children from 7 to 13 years they got education.

The basic education master plan 1990, the government of Tanzania recognized the central roles of education to improve the economics of their people. In Mtwara region had tried in several way to address the issuer of quality education and had took measures to affirm that education is a basic right and basis for need for all. Through UPE and Adult Literacy Campaigns, vocationalization of secondary and expanding tertiary education (higher education).

It was been realized that education is still facing many problems. In 1996 the government of Tanzania undertook development the education sector development programe to the existed challenges. The education sector development programme to the existed challenges. The education sector development programme in Mtwara region tried to make sure that there enough facilities equality strong management financing education.

Education policy of 1998, Education and training policy the major objectives was to improve quality education process through all authorities from local level to regional level to support financing education in Mtwara region.

Education policy of 2014, the aims of this policy was to provide quality education to compente internationally,regionally and worldwide,education for childree means that  compulsory  education from standard 1 up to form IV

Relevant education.

At the broadest level, relevant education refers to an education that “relates[s] the design of basic schooling to the life and work of the wider community” (Sinclair & Lillis, 1980, p. 21). Thus relevant education is contextually defined based upon economic, social, and political situations that shape perceptions about what kind of an education is appropriate for the students. The notion that students should be provided with an education that will be relevant to their current and future lives is a presupposed obligation of educational systems (Sinclair & Lillis, 1980). Yet deciding what constitutes educational relevance for a diversified and large body of students is a difficult and highly subjective task.

Because different groups and people can have very different ideas about what a “relevant” education should provide based upon their expectations, goals, and perspectives, it is inevitable that there will be many different and often diverse definitions of relevant education within a single educational system. Particularly, students and parents often have a very different conceptualization of relevant education means for them than do policymakers; however it is the government and policymakers who ultimately determine the official stance on relevant education. Because this study is focused primarily upon policy changes, it is this policy-derived definition of relevant education that will be employed. However the diversity and conflict surrounding the concept of relevant education in Tanzania will be acknowledged and addressed in later discussions on the challenges and problems facing both the ESR and ETP policies.

Although the concept of relevant education within the development education discourse is difficult to define, Sinclair and Lillis (1980) identify three purposes thata ‘relevant’ education should achieve within a society: 1) learning-centered purpose - education should initiate personal development, as students obtain a deeper understanding of their world through their studies,2) societal-centered purpose - education should be a way to socialize students and prepare them to become valuable and well-adapted members of society, and 3) economic-centered purpose – education should provide students with the knowledge, skills, and technology necessary for their future positions within the workforce and should facilitate increased productivity (p. 21). A comprehensive education will accomplish all three of these principles, but it is up to policymakers to develop educational policies to achieve this balance and to decide upon which areas to focus the most attention and resources. In developing countries, policymakers have been inclined to stress the third objective in national education policies, which focuses on the economic benefits that education can provide, due to government and foreign aid donor concerns with economic development and the belief that education is the best way to increase industrialization and production(Sinclair & Lillis, 1980). This preoccupation with economic development has often shaped the direction of the relevant education discourse, and policies that follow a relevant education approach tend to focus upon improved production and economic growth, since this is often perceived as the most "relevant" issue from the perspective of developing countries.

Beyond constructing a precise definition of relevant education, educational systems face the challenge of devising ways to actually improve relevance in education through curriculum and implementation. In sub-Saharan African countries this becomes particularly difficult, as policymakers are faced with the additional burdens of widespread poverty, extreme social and economic inequities, and a lack of resources with which to implement policies, which often makes the goal of providing a relevant education unattainable, even if a definition of relevance can be agreed upon