Poverty and Human Development Report 2009 - UNDP in Tanzania

POVERTY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2009
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Percentage of cohort completing Standard VII
Percentage of students passing the Primary School Leavers’ Exam (PSLE)
Pupil/teacher ratio in primary schools
Percentage of teachers with relevant qualifications
Pupil/text book ratio
Transition rate from Standard VII to Form 1
Net secondary enrolment
Percentage of students passing the Form 4 examination
• Enrolment in higher education institutions
Literacy
The Household Budget Survey 2007 reports a literacy rate of 72.5% among Tanzanians over 15
years of age. Data by gender show that literacy among women has slightly increased from 64%
to 66.1% since the HBS 2000/01, while the literacy rate among men was unchanged at 80%.
Improvement in literacy rates will largely be driven by increased and sustained access to education
for new generations of Tanzanian children. Total enrolment in all Integrated Community-Based
Adult Education (ICBAE) programmes – functional literacy, post-literacy, new curriculum and
centres for special needs – is only 1.28 million, and less than 40% of communities surveyed
by HBS 2007 have adult education plans in place. Without further expansion of adult literacy
programmes, a serious social problem may arise – the still young generation of Tanzanians who
missed the rapid expansion of primary and secondary schooling since 2000 risks being left
behind with lower basic skills and reduced employability as the economy grows.
Moreover, literacy underpins other social and economic developments, including improvements
in governance, for example, access to, and comprehension of information posted by local
government authorities, as well as access to agricultural extension or modern technologies, such
as mobile telephones and the internet. A lack of competence and confidence in reading, writing
and numeracy can inhibit social and economic participation, effectively cutting off households
and communities from the full benefits or economic growth.
Pre-primary Education
Continuing the rising trend since 2004, well over one-third (37%) of children are now enrolled in
pre-primary education, and the proportion of children starting pre-primary at the requisite age
has also improved slightly. 24 Government promotion of pre-primary is almost certainly a factor
behind this rise. 25
24 Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT), Basic Education Statistics in Tanzania (BEST)
2005-2009 (MoEVT, 2009, p. 4).
25 Most children access government pre-primary schools where enrolment has risen in the last year from 805,000
to 851,000. Non-government provision had been growing very fast from a low base, but has fallen back from
over 68,000 to 45,000 in the last year (MoEVT, 2009, p. 2).
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