Dynamics of Education Policy Reforms in Tanzania: The Trend, Challenges and Way forward

Abstract

Tanzanian educational terrain has been characterised by changes in education policies with various episodes of events that have been  affecting the quality of education in general. These episodes of events can be traced back from independence in 1961. Immediately after  independence the education system that was inherited from the colonial masters was seen to be largely irrelevant to Tanzania and hence  series of changes began taking place by way of formulating new education policies that could reflect the Tanzanian context. This  paper, therefore, surveys the trend of education policy making and reform processes that have been taking place in Tanzania since  independence. It presents various phases of education policy making and elucidates the achievements that were realised and the  associated challenges. Also, the paper provides a brief description of the policy formulation approaches that dominated and their  implications on implementation. Lastly it provides the way forward in view of improving the education policy making in Tanzania. The paper is largely based on the survey of literature by various authors and government documents. It is the author’s anticipation that the  contents of this paper will help university students studying public administration, development policy and education management in  different higher learning institutions.