Education in Tanzania

Background information

The United Republic of Tanzania comprises Tanganyika, Zanzibar and Pemba. Tanganyika got independence in 1961 and in 1964 united with Zanzibar and Pemba to form the United Republic of Tanzania. For many years after independence, Tanzania pursued a socialist political and economic policy that encouraged state ownership of public resources. The citizens were made to live in communities where they worked and collectively produced goods for common use in what was called the Ujamaa system.

But the socialist policy was later abandoned in the 1980s as it failed to transform the country's socio economic systems. However, one of the lasting legacies of the system was that it promoted mass literacy and entrenched the use of Kiswahili as a national language. Adult literacy rate is 77 per cent with 85.2 per cent for men and 69.2 per cent for women.

According to the economic Survey 2006, Tanzania had a population of 37,267,530 in 2005. Out of this, 19,009,051were females, equivalent to 51 per cent which 18,258,479 were males, or 49 per cent. The bulk of population, more than 35 million people, lives on the Tanzania Mainland. Further, the statistics show that majority of the people- 77 per cent live in rural areas and only 23 per cent live urban areas of the Tanzania Mainland.

The country's economic mainstay is agriculture. Tourism, trade and manufacturing also play a significant role in the economy. In 2005, the country recorded a GDP growth of 6.8 per cent compared to 6.7 per cent in 2004. The improved economic growth rate was mainly attributed to good performance in agriculture, trade, tourism, and transport and communication.
Tanzania, which is the biggest country in East Africa, has 25 administrative regions, namely, Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Iringa, Kagera, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Lindi,Mara, Mbeya, Morogoro, Mtwara, Mwanza, Pemba North, Pemba South, Pwani, Rukwa, Ruvuma, Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora, Tanga, Zanzibar Central/South, Zanzibar North, Zanzibar Urban/West

The country has a spectacular landscape of mainly three physiographic regions namely the Islands and the coastal plains to the east; the inland saucer-shaped plateau; and the highlands, The Great Rift Valley that runs from north east of Africa through central Tanzania is another landmark that adds to the country's scenic beauty.

Education in Tanzania

The vision of Tanzania's Ministry of Education is to provide high level of education at all levels and create a nation with people sufficiently equipped with the requisite knowledge to solve the society's problems, meet the challenges of development and attain competitiveness at regional and global levels.

The mission is to realize UPE, eradication of illiteracy and attainment of a level of tertiary education and training commensurate with a critical high quality human resources required to effectively respond to the country's development challenges.