Education Systems Diagnostic - Tanzania RISE Tanzania Country Research Team

The RISE Tanzania Systems Diagnostic, a revision of a similar document produced by the team in December 2016, provides a detailed description of the basic education system in Tanzania. The aims of this document are to: a) analyze the de jure and functional relationships between actors in the basic education system; and b) outline the policies and practices that predominate in different domains of the education system. By mapping actors’ relationships across different domains and design elements of the system in Section II (“Analytical Assessment of the Current System Conditions”), we aim to identify the structural factors that drive the outcomes that we observe (for example, learning gaps that persist despite progress on basic skills). Section III of the Diagnostic (“Symptomatic Characterization of the System”) outlines de jure policies set by the government in different domains before describing the current practice in these same areas. In Section III, we also highlight changes in education policy and practice since 2016. In other words, we present a high-level, “birds-eye” view of the system before zooming in to show: a) contrasts between policy as it is prescribed and policy as it is practiced, and b) changes to the de jure and de facto aspects of the system since 2016. Our hope is that the analysis presented here will help education stakeholders inside and outside the government, understand the features of the basic education system in Tanzania. They can then use this more accurate view of the system’s dynamics to identify opportunities for change. We realize that education actors understand the system they work in implicitly, but a formal analysis can help those working in the system better articulate its dynamics.