Tanzania: Government launch ICT education without training policy

By Aloyce Menda of JUSTA-AFRICA


“The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is not only advantageous in education but also destructive to learners’ minds if inappropriately used” Those are words in the conclusion remarks from a study by two curriculum developers of the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE), the sole government authority in curriculum development for all public schools and teachers’ colleges.

The scholars, Mr. Makoye Wangeleja and Ms. Fransisca Tarimo conducted their study in 2002 to conclude that lack of ICT educational policy in Tanzania is among major obstacles to ICT implementation in schools. “Any educational innovation such as ICT needs strong policy support and clearly defined approach to implement,” the scholars say in a report published by TIE in July 2003.

The policy on ICT education is important to tackle the problems many innovators face during implementation of educational innovations, assert the scholars. They request for specific policy that would not only aim at tackling staff, hardware and software acquisition, network maintenance and management, but also reconcile the various perceptions on how, where and why ICT should be used in education.

When this study was published, the current National ICT Policy prepared by under the auspices of the Tanzanian Ministry of Communication and Transport (MoCT) was already in circulation. The policy by MoCT was released in March 2003 and is now the sole compass for all ICT activities in Tanzania including training.

The mission statement of this policy is: “To enhance nation-wide economic growth and social progress by encouraging beneficial ICT activities in all sectors through providing a conducive framework for investments in capacity building and in promoting multi-layered co operation and knowledge sharing locally as well as globally”

Early this year, the policy was criticized for lack of adequate conception on training ICT. The criticisms surfaced during a four-day workshop organized for stakeholders to build a strategy for integrating ICT in secondary school education.

“The future of ICT in Secondary Schools – Strategizing for Implementation”; was the title of the workshop held in Dar es Salaam from January 24 to 27. It was a unique gathering that probed and eventually set a foundation for integrating ICT as a compulsory subject and a learning tool in secondary education in Tanzania Mainland.

However, some participants particularly curriculum developers were disappointed after the workshop. Their arguments and demand for specific policy on training ICT were liquefied during deliberations. Unfortunately, Mr. Makoye Wangeleja and Ms. Fransisca Tarimo were not among the workshop participants but their bosses from TIE attended.

Participants were almost divided into two groups on policy issue. A good number of them favoured the idea of developing a specific policy for ICT training and application in the education sector. Those who rejected the idea, with a view that the current National ICT Policy is adequate, challenged these participants.

On the other hand were the senior government officials who cautioned that though creating a new policy could look better and simple, its process could take long time before approval by the cabinet of government ministers.

Engineers August Kowero and Ole Kambaine from MoCT said demand for a new policy on ICT education was unnecessary and may delay implementation of the workshop resolutions. They said the current National ICT Policy is sufficient because it contain a clause that recognizes e-learning and ICT as compulsory ingredients in knowledge sharing and in training at all levels.

Mr. Theophil Mlaki, a director in the national Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), Dr. Yonah Zaipuna from Tanzania Telecommunication Company (TTCL) and Mr. Simbo Ntiro, a management consultant agreed with these government officials.

Before, Professor Tolly Mbwette of Open University of Tanzania (OUT) has stressed for a need for specific policy on ICT training on ground that the current National ICT Policy is too narrow and that the issue of ICT being applied in training is mentioned very lightly. A new policy on ICT training is compulsory and would elaborate in detail all necessary ingredients required including curriculum, methodologies and resources, he argued.

Mr. Joris Komen, a Namibia educationalist from School Net Namibia had supported Professor Mbwette’s argument. He said Namibia and several developing countries already have specific policies on ICT training that are applicable in secondary education. “These policies are working very well,” he stressed amid considerable support from a number of educationalists.

Nevertheless, the demand for specific policy was finally dissolved by a strong argument from Mr. Mlaki of COSTECH. He said the process of formulating a policy up to its approval could be easier in Namibia because of its small population but not in Tanzania a country of more than 30 million people. He said in Tanzania, policies take much time before approval by the cabinet because in the process of preparation government officials are compelled to involve all stakeholders outside the government.

The workshop was a real distinctive one with 18 students from selected five secondary schools as participants. The students were able to interact with professors, university lecturers, secondary school teachers, curriculum developers, government officials, ICT experts, service providers and dealers. For four days, from morning to late in the evening, the workshop participants were preoccupied in discussions and exchange of ideas on how ICT can be introduced in secondary education as a subject and a learning aid.

The importance of ICT was stressed right from the first hours of the workshop in the opening remarks by Mr. Torbjorn Pettersson, the head of development cooperation at the Swedish Embassy in Dar es Salaam. Mr. Pettersson said ICT is important in schools, because it is important for Tanzania’s development.

“It is important to realize that ICT doesn’t represent a computer, an e-mail message or a search on the web (alone),’’ said the Swedish diplomat. He mentioned some examples of links were ICT could play a key role to accelerate sustainable development in Tanzania.

As far as teaching is concerned, Mr. Pettersson said ICT could enable a secondary school teacher in Kigoma (in western Tanzania) to download important information from the Internet on Tsunamis and use it in a science class in the same day. He said ICT also could enable a student to collect information from Parliament website for a survey on gender-balance in African parliaments as a project for school.

While the workshop was on motion, the students gathered separately in a chamber to design a website. The pupils were from day secondary schools based Dar es Salaam, namely Azania, Jangwani, Zanaki, Kisutu and Benjamin Mkapa High School. They are among few students in Tanzanian secondary schools privileged to study ICT in school. So far ICT training is offered as a subsidiary computer literacy subject, which is optional. In most schools students who opt for the subject are required to pay extra costs for tuition.

The students said in their joint statement that ICT is too crucial for learning and hence propose to the government to turn it as a compulsory subject in all schools as soon as possible. They urged the stakeholders in the ICT sector to cooperate with the government and provide free Internet access to all schools with high-speed-link connectivity.

Mr. Joris Komen, Mr. Thomas Matthew and Gabriel Mwakalinga guided the students in various activities during the workshop. Matthew and Mwakalinga are ICT teachers in Dar es Salaam.

Ms. Allen Luyima, a Ugandan educationalist in SchoolNet Uganda and Esther Wachira, a training

Posted By: ALOYCE MENDA