DO YOU KNOW THAT Unhappy teachers can only deliver unhappy results?????

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.