Only quality education will ignite socio-economic development

TANZANIA’s modest investment in education since independence from Britain in 1961 has enabled significant gains in literacy, school attendance and university enrollment in recent years.

But this great country endowed with abundant resources still has a long way to go as the rate of higher education remains low. Nevertheless, there is reason for hope. Over the next few decades, Tanzania is expected to record the fastest growth in the number of wealthy individuals if recent studies commissioned by the Standard Chartered Bank are anything to rely on.

The studies indicate that the growing ranks of the affluent view education as a top priority. Most middle income earners interviewed plan to spend more on their children’s education in the next 20 years, even though up to 20 per cent of themselves had minimal education.In the coming years, rich individuals, together with private enterprises and the public sector, will be essential to ensuring that all young Tanzanians - not just those from wealthy families – gain access to quality education. But more than money is needed.

Tanzanians must go beyond contributing actively to building schools, funding scholarships, and training teachers. Funding the training of school teachers in the country, must be based on the belief that higher-quality teaching will lead to better learning outcomes.

All actors in the education sector know very well that inclusive growth that an educated workforce will bring untold benefits. But ensuring long-term economic success is not only a matter of increasing literacy and university-enrollment rates; it also demands an education system that prepares workers to meet the demands of Tanzania’s fast-changing labour market.

This means, first and foremost, ensuring that people gain practical skills that can drive economic development in the decades ahead. It is more important to ensure that clear ways linking education to employment must be created.

With the right education, skills, and job opportunities, Tanzania’s immense workforce could deliver rapid and sustainable economic growth for the entire nation. Without them, the country is more likely to experience rising unemployment, widening inequality, social disorder, and, ultimately, conflict and chaos.

/Daily News.