The Tanzania Teachers’ Union (TTU) wants the government to pay teachers more than double their current earnings, based on the argument that unhappy teachers cannot work effectively. TTU Acting General Secretary Ezekiah Oluoch spoke with The Citizen staff writer Lucas Liganga on the burning issue in the teaching fraternity.
QUESTION: What is the truth about the working conditions of teachers in Tanzania in terms of hours of work, support structures, salaries and other benefits?
ANSWER: Teachers in Tanzania are underpaid in comparison to those in other countries. What they earn can only sustain them for two weeks in a month. They get no overtime and no duty allowances as in fields like medicine, where doctors have on-call allowances. Boarding school teachers who are on night duty do not receive an on-call allowance.
Teachers work a 52-hour week while other employees have a 40-hour week. In the teaching profession, working hours are not only determined by actual teaching hours. It should include preparation time, which takes almost 75 per cent of working time. They spend hours marking homework and taking on administrative duties like counselling students and on conflict management. Their employer gives them no compensation for such hours. According to a TTU survey, a beginner in the teaching profession should earn not less than Sh720, 000 per month. But they are paid Sh304, 000, excluding statutory deductions.
There is a shortage of 150,000 staff quarters for teachers alone. Over 75 per cent of teachers work in a harsh environment while teachers in 33 districts work in hardship areas. In general, conditions of work for teachers are intolerable when compared to other government employees. Teachers are the only professional public employees found in every village in Tanzania.
The education system in Tanzania is under heavy criticism. Has it always been bad? If not, what has gone wrong?
During the colonial era, only small groups of people got an education. When we got independence in 1961, the first President put a lot of resources in education. During this era, teaching was considered one of the noble professions.
Spending in education started to deteriorate in the second phase of leadership and teaching and education started to face financial problems. The third phase government did not correct the situation. The current government made many promises but we have experienced a clear deviation from providing quality education to other things that are not necessary for the development of the people.
What ails education in Tanzania?
There are many factors that contribute to the poor education in Tanzania. They include:
Little investment in education: The foremost factor is less investment in education in Tanzania compared to other countries. The Tanzanian government and Parliament have not yet decided to invest in education. Less investment means less input and the end product will be poor. Tanzania occupies 945,000 square kilometres and has a population of 45 million people. It has almost 10 million children in school from over 9.5 million families. Tanzania is also the biggest country in the East African Community, but it spends only 1.4 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on education.
Kenya is almost 560,000 square kilometres, with almost 43 million people and 12 million students in school and 7.8 per cent of its GDP goes to education. Uganda, with 260,000 square kilometres, spends 4.8 per cent of its GDP in education. Rwanda has a population that equals Dar es Salaam and Coast regions put together and it is smaller than Tabora and Shinyanga regions combined, yet it spends 5.8 per cent of its GDP in education. Burundi’s population equals that of Dar es Salaam and it is smaller than Mlele district in Katavi region with only 500 teachers. However, it puts 3.2 per cent of its GDP in education. We cannot compete with them in terms of investment in education. With its lower investment, the government cannot pay teachers well and feed children when they are in school.
The budget allocated for education has been inadequate year in, year out. This has negative effects on the development of education. Inadequate allocation of money in education is the source of many problems, including shortages of books and laboratory apparatus and poor pay for teachers. It also hampers investment in essential facilities. The education budget has been dropping every year.
A HakiElimu report on the education budget says there has been a steady drop from 2008/2009 to 2011/2012—from Sh344 billion in 2008/2009 to Sh313 billion in 2009/2010 and from Sh302 billion in 2010/2011 to Sh238 in 2011/2012.
Poor teacher training: Another critical factor is the way teachers are trained. There are 34 teacher training colleges owned by the government and almost 85 owned by non-governmental organisations and individuals. There is a shortage of 200 tutors at teacher training colleges owned by the government alone, which means tutors are overstretched and demotivated. Colleges owned by non-governmental organisations and individuals also face shortages of qualified tutors as most of their employees are retirees who do not have the capacity to cope with the teaching load. These former teachers and tutors are paid little. Most colleges have less equipment than required for fully flagged colleges.
Inadequate budget allocation to the teacher training department at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training is alarming. For years, the only department vested with the responsibility of preparing teachers has received hardly 20-25 per cent of its requirement. Due to inadequate resources, Block Teaching Practices—a pre-requisite in training teachers—is not done properly.
Poor performance in colleges: Most teachers employed after training in the past three years performed poorly. According to certificate trainee data, only four candidates scored a distinction from 2009 to 2012. There were three distinction candidates in 2009, and only one in 2010 and also in 2011. No candidate scored a distinction in 2012. Performance at credit level during the same period was as follows: 2009 21.78 per cent in 2009, 7.92 per cent in 2010. This is a very high drop in performance in a year. Those who scored pass marks ranged between 75 and 89.
Poor performance at teacher training colleges is also observed at the diploma level. Between 2009 and 2012, only two diploma candidates passed with a distinction—and that was in 2009. Performance at credit level during the same period was 4.75 per cent. Candidates with a pass rate scored 63 to 73 per cent.
This means the majority of teachers at primary school and secondary school level scored “pass” marks when in training. These teachers with weak academic and professional backgrounds are in employment.
When we examined their performance before they joined teacher training colleges, we discovered they had a weak academic background. The best solution to this problem is to launch compulsory in-service training programmes for teachers and equip them with a strong academic background so they can cope with emerging needs.
Teacher motivation: Teachers would be motivated if they were paid a living wage and their working environment is improved so they can provide quality education for their children. Motivating teachers helps us retain highly qualified and experienced teachers. When the term “motivation” is applied to teachers, it refers to how to help teachers value their jobs and involves material and psychological needs.
There is a link between teacher motivation and performance in schools. Where teachers are deprived of statutory rights provided by the law, learning opportunities are reduced and it becomes difficult to provide quality education for our children. Some scholars have argued that teachers cannot work if they are unhappy. They will go to the classroom with loads of problems and their presentation will be poor. They need peace of mind. Demotivated teachers cannot be forced to teach properly. Where you have improper teaching strategies, children will learn less than they would have with highly motivated teachers.
The 2000 World Bank Report on conditions of service for teachers in Tanzania, has this to say: “In the absence of incentives to perform better, many teachers are currently providing much less and lower quality education than they are capable of….The demotivation of teachers is a major contributory factor to the abysmally poor learning achievements of primary and secondary students.”
Some scholars have argued that the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. If the quality of the education system is to be evaluated, the first and foremost thing to consider is the quality of its teachers. That quality rises in proportion to their motivation.
Highly demotivated teachers can never deliver quality education to our children—which is the case in Tanzania mainland.
Poor pay, poor performance: The salaries that teachers receive are below the level necessary to ensure their adequate motivation. In 2005, it was estimated that the expenditure of a family of one child was US$324.
According to ILO/UNESCO, teachers’ salaries in Tanzania are very low such that they cannot sustain their monthly expenditures as employees. They also argue that salaries paid to teachers should:
• Reflect the importance of society of the teaching function and hence the importance of teachers as well as the responsibilities of all kinds which fall upon them from time to time of their entry into service.
• Compare favourably with salaries paid in other occupations requiring similar or equivalent qualifications.
• Provide teachers with the means to ensure a reasonable standard of living for themselves and their families as well as to invest in further education or in the pursuit of cultural activities thus enhancing their professional qualification.
• Take account of the fact that certain posts require higher qualifications and experiences and carry greater responsibilities.
• Shortage of teaching and learning materials
A shortage of teaching and learning materials are critical problems to be addressed as soon as possible. The current data available shows shortage of text books per subject as follows: Agriculture (67.7), Biology (72.9), Chemistry (72.9), Civics (82.6), commercial subjects (58.1), Computer (88.6), Domestic Science (85.5), English (60.9), French (79.1), General Studies (85.5), Geography (70.9), History (67.3), Mathematics (77), Physics (76.9), Kiswahili (59.8) and Vocational Studies (69.1). In short, schools face acute shortages of text books, hence students depend entirely on unmotivated teachers to get material for them to learn. Some of the textbooks procured in schools are of sub-standards, hence it adds to text books which are irrelevant.
Poor supervision: This is a critical issue to take on board. The problem is in the appointment of education managers, or supervisors as we know them. District education officers, school inspectors, head teachers, principals of teachers’ training colleges and officials at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training are mainly appointed on “technical know-who” rather than “technical know-how”. This is because we lack transparency in the appointment of these key officers. Head teachers are appointed by district education officers based on who they know.
We have classroom teachers with no administrative experiences being upgraded to district education officers as there is no established mechanism of getting these people in these positions. Where there is no transparency, corruption is inevitable. That is why education cannot be managed well. There are no qualified and competent managers to manage it. The prevailing conditions do not allow this country to provide quality education to its people.
Poor school inspections: School inspection is a key factor in monitoring the progress of the education is provided in the country. If a country wishes to provide quality education to its citizens, it has to stick to the Trinity principle—Curriculum development, National Examination Council of Tanzania and School Inspection Directorate. These three areas receive little financing by the government. The School Inspection Directorate is in the intensive care unit (ICU) as it is critically under-financed.
Because there is little money allocated to the Inspectorate, school inspections are not carried out to the required standards. During the financial year 2011/12, there were 14,529 pre-primary schools in the country. Of this number, the targeted schools for inspections were 6,045 (41.6 per cent) but only 1,493 schools (10.3 per cent) were inspected.
In the same year, there were 16,052 primary schools. Of these, 7,200 (44.85 per cent) schools were targeted for inspection but only 3,061 schools (19.1 per cent) were inspected. During the same period, there were 4,528 secondary schools and the target was to inspect 2,160 schools (47.70 per cent) but only 935 schools (20.7 per cent) were inspected.
The data shows that the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training is not fully aware of what is actually going on in our schools. It is not easy to announce the progress of education every six months in order to address challenges faced at early stages of learning.
If working conditions are this bad, how do we expect teachers to stay on the job?
Demotivated teachers will seriously affect the provision of quality education to all children, including those from rural areas. In emphasising the need to take seriously the motivation of teachers, a foremost authority argues that: “Classrooms can be built, additional teaching and learning resources can be provided, students can be taken to their classrooms, school committees and communities can become actively involved in the teaching and learning process, inspectors and local education officials can offer adequate levels of support, and sufficient numbers of teachers can be employed to create learning enabling environment. Further efforts can be made to ensure that teachers are well-educated, highly trained professionals who are gender-sensitive, advocates of child-friendly approaches and are able to work with large classes. However, none of these actions will ensure that teachers perform their duties. Hence, teacher motivation becomes a critical factor.”
And in case there is an exodus of teachers seeking green pastures elsewhere, will there be any replacements?
There is a shortage of 150,000 teachers at primary school level while 40,000 teachers are needed in secondary schools.
The majority of those are trained to be teachers at primary school level are unlikely to leave their profession to look for green pastures as they hardly have alternatives. In order to fill in the gap arising from the meagre salaries they are paid, they have engaged in secondary employment such as small businesses.
A committed teacher does not have time to engage in other activities. But a study in Muleba district in Kagera region and in Temeke in Dar es Salaam shows that three-quarters of teachers in Muleba and two-thirds of teachers in Temeke run businesses to supplement their salaries.
Graduates in education have decided to be employed in companies where they do not use their professional skills. They move to those companies and non-governmental organisations in pursuit of high salaries. This country has no any mechanism to retain highly qualified professional teachers, especially graduates, because of poor pay.
Back to the question of arrears, what exactly does the government owe you?
Up to June, 2013, the government owes teachers Sh48 billion—Sh30 billion on salary arrears and over Sh18 billion in non- salary claims. We expect the figure to be high as the government and TTU have been verifying teachers’ claims, an exercise which will be finished before the end of December 2013. In addition, we have over 70,000 teachers who are due for promotion. Over 40,000 teachers have been promoted but their salaries have not been adjusted to match the promotions. The government owes teachers almost Sh100 billion.
Is there any hope of getting the money? And if the government is not willing to release the money, what would be your next step?
We hope that the government will feel ashamed if it fails to pay teachers their rights as Parliament has budgeted for payment of the outstanding arrears. In addition, TTU has already issued 60 days’ notice of intention to strike. The notice ends on the 5 January, 2014.
This notice was issued under Section 26 (1) of the Public Service (Negotiating Machinery) Act, 2003. The government must comply with the TTU demands within those 60 days. We submitted the following demands under the same notice:
• The government must conclude the negotiation of salaries for teachers for this financial year as it was agreed on the 12 June, 2013, and other meetings
• The new service scheme for teachers should be in place to replace the last one which was released in 2002.
• The government must pay teachers’ claims
• Promotion of teachers should be finalised as a pre-condition for the OPRAS as President Jakaya Kikwete ordered on 5 October, 2006 in Mtwara.
The union believes that the government will not want a repeat of the four-day strike in 2012.
Do you have any other comments on the state of education in Tanzania?
The main problem in education provision in Tanzania is the meagre budget allocation to the education sector. If the budget constraints are not properly addressed by Parliament, Big Results Now will remain a political statement.
A big budget allocation to education will help the Ministry of Education and Vocational Education pay teachers motivating salaries and also improve the working environment—the two preconditions for best performance in the BRN. The country will not attain quality education for all children by 2015 under the Millennium Development Goals and Education For All goals.
