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Tanzania Education Network/Mtandao wa Elimu Tanzania

Promoting Children’s Rights to Early Childhood Care and Education in Tanzania

A Baseline Study ReportMarch 2014

Tanzania Education Network/Mtandao wa Elimu Tanzania

Promoting Children’s Rights to Early Childhood Care and Education in Tanzania

A Baseline Study ReportMarch 2014

A Baseline Study Report

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... i

1.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Approach: ......................................................................................................................... 1

1.3 Funding ............................................................................................................................ 2

1.4 Rationale .......................................................................................................................... 2

2.0 Objectives ............................................................................................................................. 3

2.1 Expected Outputs and Outcomes ..................................................................................... 3

3.0 Method ............................................................................................................................. 4

3.1 Constraints ....................................................................................................................... 5

4.0 Achievements ....................................................................................................................... 5

4.1 Findings ........................................................................................................................... 5

4.1.1 Stakeholders’ Awareness of ECCE ........................................................................ 5

4.1.2 Funding of ECCE ................................................................................................... 5

4.1.3 Quality .................................................................................................................... 6

4.1.4 Access and Enrolment ............................................................................................ 7

4.1.5 Equity ..................................................................................................................... 7

4.1.6 Children’s Protection and Participation in ECCE .................................................. 7

5.0 Conclusions........................................................................................................................... 8

6.0 Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 8

6.1 Recommendations by Stakeholders ................................................................................. 9

7.0 Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................... 10

References ................................................................................................................................... 11


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A BASELINE STUDY REPORT

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

EFA Goal Number One of expanding and improving comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children, is likely not be realized come 2015. This observation draws on the results of studies conducted in many countries. Garcia et al., (2008), shows that fewer than 30 % of the children in Africa have access to early childhood care and education services, especially in the rural areas. In Tanzania, 37.4% of school-age children receive early childhood education (BEST, 2011). Several reasons have been identified for Tanzania not being able to achieve EFA goals specifically ECCE by 2015. These include, but are not limited to, the meagre budget to the sub-sector, and insufficient community awareness of the importance of and to child safety and security, in particular the contribution of ECCE (Mtahabwa, 2010).

Despite the crucial role played by ECCE, most African governments allocate, on average, less than 1% of the education budget to the subsector. In fact, the provision of ECCE services has for a long time been dominated by private sector, religious organizations, NGOs, and communities, making it very expensive and difficult for many families from poor and rural areas to ensure their children have access to the services (EFA Assessment Report, 2000).

Convinced that a child’s right to education and protection does not start when the child joins primary school, TEN/MET and ANCEFA planned and commissioned a baseline study on Early Childhood Care, Education, and Protection in Tanzania. The aim of the study was to gather information and data that would enable TEN/MET to undertake evidence-based advocacy, and to campaign to promote children’s rights to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) and Protection in Tanzania in 2014.

1.2 Approach:

(a) Development of the concept note was done by ANCEFA

(b) Establishment of a team of experts in the area of ECCE from members and non-members of TEN/MET to provide technical support to the project i.e. planning, validation, and dissemination of the report

(c) Planning including the identification of the Consultant was done in a meeting of ANCEFA Staff (Boaz Waruku), TEN/MET staff (the Coordinator – Cathleen Sekwao and the Programme Officer – Anthony Mwakibinga) and the team of experts from Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation (PCF), Oxfam, Tanzania Early Childhood Care and Development Network (TECDEN), and Children’s Book Project (CBP).

(d) Soliciting of additional funding was done by TEN/MET ($5,000 USD was obtained from PCF)



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(e) Development of the TOR and consultancy contract was done by TEN/MET

(f) Commissioning of the study by TEN/MET: Dr. LyabweneMtahabwa – a renown ECD specialist and lecturer at the University of Dodoma

(g) Preparation of the inception report and study tools by the Consultant

(h) Carrying out of the study by the Consultant

(i) Preparation of the draft baseline report

(j) Sharing of the report with ANCEFA, TEN/MET, and the team of ECCE experts for inputs

(k) Dissemination of the report was done by the consultant supported by a TEN/MET Programme Officer

(l) Finalization of the report by the consultant

(m) Preparation of end of project report by TEN/MET

The report captures the real situation of ECCE in Tanzania. The sample areas selected, Dodoma and Lindi regions and both urban and rural settings, public and private schools are good representative samples of the situation of ECCE in most parts of Tanzania. The report also provided stakeholders with awareness of ECCE, funding of ECCE, quality, access, and equity in ECCE, policy issues and gaps in ECCE, conclusions, and recommendations.

1.3 Funding

ANCEFA provided $15,000 USD and Pestalozzi Children’s foundation topped up with $5,000 USD. A more detailed financial report is at the end of this report.

1.4 Rationale

As a signatory of the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and an adherent to the Dakar Framework for Action on EFA, Tanzania, having registered staggered progress in ECCE required an in-depth study.

In Tanzania, despite the ongoing efforts to provide ECCE of good quality, there is sufficient evidence that the state of most services for young children leaves much to be desired. The literature in the country indicates that 42% of children under five years are stunted; only 42% of the 5-6-year olds are in pre-primary schools, while the capacity for all pre-primary schools attached to primary schools is 24% only (Tanzania Early Childhood Development Network (TECDEN, 2013).

The purpose of the study was to assess the efforts made by Tanzania in the provision of ECCE as a basic right for all young children, with particular attention to disadvantaged groups, and to raise the


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awareness of parents and communities about the need to enroll children in ECCE and protect them from abuse.

This project will build on the work undertaken from 2009 to 2012 to promote the right to ECCE for children especially those with disabilities and those living in remote areas.

2.0 Objectives

The study was done to:

(a) Establish the level of enrolment in preschool as well as the barriers to enrolment;

(b) Determine trends in budget allocation by the government to ECCE;

(c) Investigate child abuse cases and actions taken against such cases;

(d) Find out the extent to which parents and communities are aware of the need to enrol their children in ECCE programmes, as well as protect them from abuse.

(e) Enable preparation of advocacy and campaign tools to increase access to and attendance of young children in ECCE as well as ensure their safety and security particularly for disadvantaged children.

The objectives of the study have been met to a great extend as evidenced by the findings.

2.1 Expected Outputs and Outcomes

The study generated information that was disseminated to:

i. Parents and community members from the selected areas for the purpose of awareness raising about the need to enroll children in ECCE programmes as well as protect them from abuse

ii. Policy makers from Ministries responsible for education and children to enable them have positive influence on ECCE in general and increase budget allocation to ECCE in particular

Dissemination in Lindi urban; in Kongwa; in Dar es Salaam


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3.0 Method

The study obtained baseline information from a wide spectrum of stakeholders (government officials, ministries in charge of ECCE, faith-based organizations (FBOs), NGOs providing ECCE services, parents and community members and funding agencies) for sensitization of parents, community members, and policy makers and for the preparation of advocacy and campaign tools to increase access to and attendance of young children in ECCE as well as to ensure their safety and security, particularly for disadvantaged children.

The field study was conducted in two regions (Dodoma and Lindi) where, through consultations with the District Education Officers (DEOs) or Municipal Education Officers (MEOs) in the purposively chosen districts, the typical urban and rural settings were identified using Wards as study units. There were two districts drawn from Lindi Region (Lindi Municipal and Lindi District Councils) and two others from Dodoma Region (Dodoma Municipal and Kongwa District Councils).

The choice of the two regions and their corresponding Councils/Districts was made for a number of reasons. Dodoma Municipality is one of the fastest growing cities in Tanzania, a situation that required an in-depth study to know the extent to which children were accommodated in the city development plans. So far, the city had attracted people from different parts of the country giving the city rich cultural and linguistic diversities. The schools in Kongwa district were worthy of study because over 80 primary schools in the district are beneficiaries of the Children’s Book Project (CBP) programme funded by Pestalozzi Children’s Foundation.

Lindi region, on the other hand, is one of the most underprivileged regions in terms of social services such as water, health, education, and means of transport. Conducting a study in a typical urban and a typical rural setting drawn from this region would provide useful information about the state of children’s services in contexts of high levels of deprivation.

The study deployed a case study design where a qualitative research approach was used for an in-depth understanding of the phenomena under investigation, focusing on insiders’ perspectives.

Using a purposive random sampling strategy (Gall et al., 2005), policy makers and implementers at various levels were selected. The unit of analysis was the Ward, based on the socio-economic conditions characterizing it, the urban-rural dimension, and types of school ownership. Four districts (2 from Dodoma & 2 from Lindi regions) were selected. The study settings involved a total of 9 Wards (4 in Lindi; 5 in Dodoma). In each urban setting, one pre-primary school was selected in a Ward considered typically urban. This criterion was also observed for rural settings focusing on a typically rural Ward. In each Ward, one pre-primary school was selected for an in-depth study using interviews, focus group discussion (FGD), classroom observations and an environment/materials checklist. For the rest of the pre-primary schools in a Ward (maximum of 5), the checklist and brief observationswere deployed focusing on classroom ethnography and processes. Documentary analysis was deployed to obtain information about quality assurance and control as well as the current status of ECCE and child protection. There were a total of 109 participants in the study.


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Overall, six pre-primary schools in each urban setting were studied. Four pre-primary schools were visited in Lindi rural and 10 were visited in Kongwa district.

3.1 Constraints

The actual study should have started on 3rd October 2013, but it was delayed by almost a month, because of delayed delivery of the mandatory MOEVT permit, required before carrying out research in education in schools/education institutions. Some activities in Kongwa District like classroom observations, in-depth interviews, and FGD with parents were not conducted, following the study being time-barred either as a result of closure of the schools or time constraints as per the study schedule. The Children’s Council for Dodoma region was not available despite efforts to consult them. The impact of this could be limited understanding of the nature, magnitude, and steps taken against child abuse cases in Dodoma. Finally, the findings in this study should be confined to settings where the study took place and generalized to other settings with similar conditions.

4.0 Achievements

4.1 Findings

Study results indicated that: 4.1.1 Stakeholders’ Awareness of ECCE

• Stakeholders at policy level demonstrated a thorough understanding of what ECCE entailed. ECCE was viewed as laying a foundation for the child’s future schooling as well as their overall participation in the social and economic life.

• parents’ understanding of the scope of ECCE was mainly confined to making children literate and numerate, giving them an opportunity to play and socialize with peers, receive porridge, and grant parents time to participate in other activities. Parents in urban and rural areas had a similar understanding of ECCE. However, they were very much aware that the government had not done much to improve the quality of services for young children.

• Children demonstrated high understanding of matters related to their wellbeing. They mentioned development, survival, protection, and participation as major rights of the child and wanted the government and other stakeholders to promote and safeguard these rights.

4.1.2 Funding of ECCE

Funding of ECCE posed a serious challenge to the survival and successful operations of government pre-primary schools. The funding mechanisms of these schools were hardly reliable and sustainable. The funds allocated to such ministries were insufficient compared with the actual needs. Private preprimary schools are funded by parents who are able to pay the high fees demanded by these schools and in return, their children get quality education.


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Participants in a focus group

4.1.3 Quality

• Quality was the most problematic issue in all the government pre-primary schools visited with the situation becoming worse as one moves away from urban areas. Non-government pre-primary schools, whether owned by private providers or religious institutions, were somewhat better in most aspects as compared to the government pre-primary schools. All the pre-primary schools operated for 5 days of the week from Monday to Friday. The number of hours spent by children in pre-primary schools ranged between 4 – 8 hours in Lindi region and from 2.5 – 9 hours in Dodoma Region, with private-owned pre-primary schools having more hours than the government-owned ones.

• Group sizes varied considerably across the rural-urban divide. In Lindi urban, it varied from 20 to 77 pupils while in Dodoma urban it ranged from 26 to 140. Lindi rural had group sizes ranging from 31 to 62 while in Kongwa district it oscillated from 31 to 119. Group sizes were more unfavourable for the government pre-primary schools following the same logic of rural-urban divide.

In Dodoma; A nursery class in a staff room In Lindi: A congested class In Dar: Well furnished, plenty of space

• The teacher-pupil ratio in Lindi urban ranged from 1:3 to 1:77 while its counterpart, Dodoma urban fluctuated from 1:13 to 1:140. While the teacher pupil-ratio for Lindi rural ranged between 1:31 to 1:62; Kongwa district registered variations of the same from 1:31 to 1:119

• Teacher qualification was the most wanting programme variable in the current study as reported by the insiders. In Lindi urban, only 2 of the 6 pre-primary schools had trained teachers while in Lindi rural 1 school of 4 had a teacher with qualifications for teaching young children. The situation was much better for pre-primary schools located in Dodoma urban in terms of teacher qualifications. Four (4) pre-primary schools had received some training in ECCE while 2 had none. In all the pre-primary schools visited training of teachers involved workshops, short courses and 1 – 2 years in-service training at Grade “A” Certificate level.

• Nutritional status in most pre-primary schools left much to be desired. The best served


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government pre-primary schools were those providing children with porridge made of rice flour with sugar and blue band or groundnut flour added. Other schools had either none at all or, very often, corn flour porridge with salt added. Overall, the non-state pre-primary schools enjoyed a better position.

• In terms of water, pre-primary schools located in rural areas experienced more problems compared to those in urban areas.

• Health workers visited the schools infrequently, such as during vaccination campaigns, provision of Vitamin A, administration of de-wormers, supply of insecticide treated nets (ITNs), delivery of HIV/AIDS education and health education in general. However, a First Aid Kit was available in only a few pre-primary schools.

• Parents’ awareness about parenting skills in particular and health and nutrition in general was generally low and this could be one of the reasons to explain the unsatisfactory health status of infants and children including, but not limited to, stunting, low birth weights, and anemia.

• The establishment of pre-primary school units within primary school compounds and its resultant “sharing culture” had forced pre-primary school pupils to share virtually every service with primary school pupils. The buildings, furniture, toilets and playgrounds to mention but a few, were all shared, such provisions were not age-appropriate.

• The Children’s Books were mostly meant to assist pupils in lower primary grades and higher grades, other than serving the 5-6-year olds.

4.1.4 Access and Enrolment

Access was not a problem for most children in urban areas but was so for most of those in rural settings, where they must walk long distances to reach the schools in other villages.

The home-school distance for children living in most rural areas was reported to pose a big challenge countrywide.

4.1.5 Equity

Young children with disabilities probably were the most unattended in the country.

4.1.6 Children’s Protection and Participation in ECCE

From children’s perspectives, society in Tanzania pays insufficient attention to their security. Very often, adults abused them. The children viewed the traditional disciplinary measure of administering corporal punishment as counter-productive:

The clashing perspectives between parents and children with respect to use of corporal punishment in ECCE provoke national research and debate if child development and learning is to proceed smoothly


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at all.

5.0 Conclusions

While the level of awareness among ECCE stakeholders is an important factor towards meaningful investment in ECCE, in Tanzania this was not an issue at the policy making level. This is due to the lack of articulate documents prepared by the government and a heightened commitment reflected in ratification of various regional and international deliberations. Poverty was also not an excuse for low investment in ECCE as agreed upon in the Dakar Framework for Action. For Tanzania, lack of political will explains the current levels of investment in ECCE in Tanzania.

Funding of ECCE is problematic in Tanzania and one of the main reasons could be the policy position which fails to spell out how the establishment of the pre-primary schools and their management would be achieved. Silence of the policy to pronounce that pre-primary education for the 5-6-year olds is compulsory could be a possible reason for the inadequate and less sustainable funding of pre-primary education.

The state of services for young children varies considerably across the rural and urban settings as well as between the government-owned and the private-owned ones. The latter in each case are more advantaged. Even in schools in rural areas that were beneficiaries of the Children’s Book Project, young children hardly benefited from such provisions.

Children’s access to ECCE in some of the rural areas is constrained by the long distance between home and pre-primary school as well as economic hardships that deprive parents of the ability to afford costs involved in catering for children’s school requirements. In areas where pre-primary schools are far away from children’s homes, enrollment and attendance of young children pose serious challenges. At least 3 factors accounted for low enrollment of children particularly in rural areas: low awareness, poverty, and long home-school distance.

Equity matters that required immediate attention were related to children with disability and those from poor family backgrounds. Children with disabilities and those from poor family backgrounds are the most adversely affected in the existing macro policy context.

Children’s means of transport in urban areas and use of traditional disciplinary measures, particularly corporal punishment, are matters that compel tipping debates. While adults support corporal punishment considered as “age-appropriate”, children abhor and wish such punishment is done away with and replaced by alternative disciplinary measures.

6.0 Recommendations

Vigorous countrywide awareness campaigns using different strategies of the media are needed to sensitize the community to ECCE.


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The government leaders and politicians are critical agents of change in the ECCE agenda. They need to translate their “theoretical political will” into “practical political will” so that the good will apparently seen on paper will be seen on the ground as well.

The existence of pre-primary schools in primary school compounds should not make the former overshadowed by the latter. Pre-primary education, or broadly ECCE, is a distinct level of education that requires separate treatment while observing continuity with other levels of education.

The government, as matter of urgency, should re-think its early childhood policy to make sure that marginal groups of young children are not left behind in ECCE.

The basic rights of the child related to protection and participation invite policy makers and implementers at various levels as well as the general public to view children as a special group of people who require special attention. The government should plan for a consultative meeting involving all key stakeholders to discuss and draw resolutions on these matters.

6.1 Recommendations by Stakeholders

During dissemination meetings held in 6 different places (2 for policy-makers & 4 for community members) stakeholders made the following recommendations.

i. To provide an impetus in the provision of ECCE in Tanzania, it is important that a separate Directorate be created for this level of education as has been done with other levels of education. This will avoid problems associated with primary education concealing ECCE.

ii. Deliberate strategies need to be in place for construction of pre-primary schools in all areas (especially rural ones) where such schools do not exist.

iii. Due to the fact that the benefits of ECCE increase with the decrease in children’s ages, the government should prepare good strategies for serving those children instead of letting other stakeholders fulfill that responsibility in the absence of close supervision.

iv. Pre-primary education needs to be planned properly to avoid pre-primary schools becoming academic-oriented ones.

v. Although there are many teachers graduating from various teacher training institutions, government and private alike, very few of them actually serve children in the existing pre-primary schools because of a number of reasons including low teachers’ motivation (low pay and status). The government should improve teachers’ motivation and put in place a formal procedure for employing teachers graduating from private teacher training institutions.

vi. There should be a firm system for quality monitoring and evaluation of pre primary education in schools.


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vii. Various publications, workshops, seminars and meetings about ECCE should be provided at the implementation level instead of ending at the policy making level only.

viii. There are many stakeholders with various programmes that provide a range of services for young children in Tanzania. It is high time that these stakeholders come together for the purpose of coordinating efforts and resources to avoid, among other things, unnecessary duplication of services and having gaps in service provision. The current efforts to prepare an integrated early childhood development policy offer an excellent opportunity for this to be achieved.

7.0 Lessons Learned

i. Parents’ understanding of the importance of ECCE in improving overall learning is low. Special efforts are required to improve this.

ii. ECCE needs to be recognized as a distinct level of education that also requires funding as other levels


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