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Across six Sub-Saharan African countries, grade 4 students of teachers who were hired after a free primary education reform perform worse, on average, on language and math tests--statistically significantly so in language--than students of teachers who were hired before the reform. Teachers who were hired just after the reform also perform worse, on average, on tests of subject content knowledge than those hired before the reform. The results are sensitive to the time frames considered in the analysis, and aggregate results mask substantial variation across countries--gaps are large and significant in some countries but negligible in others. Analysis of teacher demographic and education characteristics--including education level or teacher certification--as well as teacher classroom-level behaviors reveals few systematic differences associated with being hired pre- or post-reform. [Additional support for the working paper from the Research in Improving Systems of Education (RISE) (United Kingdom) and the Knowledge for Change Program (KCP) Trust Fund.]

This paper argues that many pedagogical reform efforts falter because they fail to consider the cultural context of teacher and student behavior. Little guidance exists on how to adapt teaching practices to be compatible with culturally influenced behaviors and beliefs. We present evidence from three studies conducted as part of a large basic education program in Tanzania showing that some teaching activities are less effective or not well implemented because of culturally influenced behaviors in the classroom, namely children's lack of confidence to speak up in class; a commitment to togetherness, fairness, and cooperation; avoidance of embarrassment; and age-graded authority. We propose ways teaching activities can be adapted to take these behaviors into account while still adhering to fundamental principles of effective learning, including student participation in their own learning, teaching at the right level, and monitoring students as a basis for adjusting instruction. Such adaptations may be made most effective by engaging teachers in co-creation of teaching activities.

This research project aims to illustrate the journey of school partnerships between primary schools in Cumbria, UK and Moshi, Tanzania. Using a qualitative approach, the study shares the processes involved from making first contact with an oversees link school to expanding a successful model of partnership working to a cluster of schools in both countries. The shift of moving from a charitable giving approach to one of social justice, and how this has been achieved, is a suggested method for other schools who currently have school partnerships or are due to embark on the journey. This research focuses on three main themes: sustainability; reciprocity, and equity. By using an insider researcher to construct the narrative of the research and explore the themes, an honest, subjective insight highlighting the successes, obstacles and scope for longevity is shared.

This report presents the results of RTI International Education's study on teachers' guides across 13 countries and 19 projects. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, we examine how teachers' guides across the projects differ and find substantial variation in the design and structure of the documents. We develop a scripting index so that the scripting levels of the guides can be compared across projects. The impact results of the programs that use teachers' guides show significant impacts on learning outcomes, associated with approximately an additional half year of learning, showing that structured teachers' guides contribute to improved learning outcomes. During observations, we find that teachers make a variety of changes in their classroom instruction from how the guides are written, showing that the utilization of structured teachers' guides do not create robotic teachers unable to use their own professional skills to teach children. Unfortunately, many changes that teachers make reduce the amount of group work and interactivity that was described in the guides, suggesting that programs should encourage teachers to more heavily utilize the instructional routines designed in the guide. The report includes a set of research-based guidelines that material developers can use to develop teachers' guides that will support effective instructional practices and help improve learning outcomes. The key takeaway from the report is that structured teachers' guides improve learning outcomes, but that overly scripted teachers' guides are somewhat less effective than simplified teachers' guides that give specific guidance to the teacher but are not written word for word for each lesson in the guide.

Developments in vocational education and training (VET) in Tanzania and Zimbabwe since the 1980s were examined in the context of economic reform. Formal VET provision in each country's public and private sectors was reviewed, and case studies of one firm in each country's manufacturing and tourism industries were conducted. The research identified important changes in Tanzania's and Zimbabwe's VET systems since the start of economic reforms. Tanzania's fiscal crisis has forced public sector training institutions to commercialize their training activities. Although Tanzania has made very significant progress in adjusting its VET system to meet the major skill requirements of a rapidly liberalizing economy, economic liberalization has not resulted in the creation of an effective and efficient demand-driven VET system in either Tanzania or Zimbabwe. Unlike the situation in Tanzania, the government in Zimbabwe has not relinquished its tight control over the VET system. Public sector VET there remains supply-driven because of government control of training resources, little involvement of key stakeholders, and massive social demand for postsecondary VET. The following are among the actions required in both countries: (1) create a properly functioning national training agency whose governance and planning structures can respond to the training needs of their main economic sectors; (2) accelerate the pace of organizational reform among public sector training institutions; (3) reform the existing VET qualification and accreditation systems; and (4) establish a coherent strategy for VET for the poor and disadvantaged. (Sixty-eight tables/figures are included. Contains 10 references.) (MN)

This report examines cost sharing, a term that combines the concepts of direct-cost recovery and indirect contributions from pupils, their parents, and sponsors. Such contributions may be voluntary, quasi-compulsory, or even compulsory. For the study reported here, cost sharing is used when the subject under discussion is not restricted to user-fee issues. The approach of the study was quantitative, but important cultural and sociological aspects were also considered. The report is primarily concerned with putting together a modest body of evidence on education expenditures by governments and households and with exploring the implications the evidence has for the central questions that need to be asked to develop and sustain government-expenditure policies. The report is presented in five chapters. Following an introduction, chapter 2 outlines the principles of cost sharing and explores the key issues that underpin cost-sharing policies. The next two chapters consist of case studies of specific countries: Ghana and Tanzania. These chapters are not self-contained and each complements the other. The last chapter summarizes the issues surrounding cost sharing and draws some policy conclusions. (Contains approximately 105 references.) (RJM)

This report presents research findings about the intellectual, political, and organizational processes that have shaped government and donor policies and projects concerned with promoting the education of women and girls in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The study seeks to assess the extent to which gender interventions in education have been donor driven. The growing concern about large and persistent gender inequalities in education has led to the development of a number of initiatives on the part of multilateral and bilateral aid agencies aimed at encouraging the participation of women and girls in education. Despite this concern, efforts to reduce gender inequalities on the part of both governments and donor agencies have been uneven and policy interventions have evolved in a piecemeal fashion. In order to explore the reasons for the limited progress that has been made in improving girls' education in most developing countries, this study focuses on policy formulation and implementation with respect to girls' education in the three low income African countries. (Contains approximately 180 references.) (BT)

This monograph summarizes the results of a World Bank research project that compared private and public secondary school costs and achievement in five developing countries--Columbia, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Thailand. All the case studies address the question: Would a high school student, selected at random from the general student population, perform better in a public or private school? In the absence of experimental data, the studies compare students' performance on standardized tests in a cross-section of public and private schools. Student background, motivation, innate ability, and prior performance are controlled through the use of various statistical techniques. The report also compares the costs of public and private schools. The principal findings include: (1) although students in private schools come from more privileged families than those in public schools, on average, there is a significant overlap between the two groups; (2) with student background and selection bias held constant, students in private schools out-perform students in public schools on a variety of achievement tests; (3) unit costs of private schools are lower than those of public schools; and (4) private schools are organized for greater school-level decision making and emphasis on enhancing student achievement; this seems to affect the mix of inputs that private versus public schools choose. Implications for policy include: (1) over-restrictive regulations on private schools may be suppressing an efficient way to provide education; (2) in some cases, governments could encourage greater private sector participation in education; and (3) public schools could emulate at least some of the teaching and administrative practices of their private counterparts. Contains numerous tables throughout the document and 66 references. (EH)

A research project in the Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Tanzania evaluated the cost effectiveness of management training seminars for women entrepreneurs in the informal sector. Women, a large and growing part of entrepreneurs, had less access to needed resources, skills, and information than men. Reasons for failure to study the cost effectiveness and efficiency of development assistance included lack of clear concepts, methodologies, and standards. Grassroots management training seminars were conducted for businesswomen operating established informal sector businesses. In each country, 40 businesswomen were selected; some were assigned to a control group. A set of indicators was developed to measure benefits. Levels of criteria considered in evaluating outcomes were reaction, learning, behavioral, and result. Impact of the training program was assessed by applying this set of indicators and comparing pre- and postseminar values. Findings indicated that participants appreciated acquisition of management skills, had a more favorable attitude toward learning and the importance of management know-how to improve business, and acquired cognitive skills. Behavioral changes were reflected in the application of acquired skills and knowledge through business expansion by at least one-third of participants in each country. They improved or stabilized their businesses. Benefits to participants exceeded costs in all three countries. (Appendixes include 29 references, a summary of seminar content, and data tables.) (YLB)

Of the three East African British colonies (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania), Tanzania was the least well off at the time of independence in 1961. At that time, only 16,691 students were enrolled in secondary schools, and all general education at higher levels was provided outside the country. Thus, the goals of post-independence educational policy were the distribution and equalization of educational opportunities and the expansion of the system at all levels, including the attainment of universal primary education. This report reviews the initial evolution and implementation of educational policies through government (5-year development plans. From 1969-1978, the Education for Self-Reliance (ESR) program became the basis for all major educational policy changes. The final section of the report evaluates the implementation and success of educational policies and finds that the emphasis on achieving universal primary education has led to a system where there are secondary school places for only 4 percent of primary school graduates. The author reviews the financial and macroeconomic circumstances, educational theories and internal and external efficiency criteria that inform the debate about educational quality and ESR, which stressed that education should help to promote a socialist transformation of society, and which emphasized preparation for rural and community life over theoretical knowledge, particularly at the primary level. The report finds that some policy objectives were contradictory and that, in the short run, quantitative and efficiency objectives have been incompatible. (Author)

We use a field experiment in Tanzania to compare the effectiveness on learning of two teacher performance pay systems. The first is a Pay for Percentile system (a rank-order tournament). The second rewards teachers based on multiple proficiency thresholds. Pay for Percentile can (under certain conditions) induce optimal effort among teachers, but our threshold system is easier to implement and provides teachers with clearer goals and targets. Both systems improved student test scores. However, the multiple-thresholds system was more effective in boosting student learning and is less costly. [This evaluation was funded by Twaweza with supplemental funding from the REACH Trust Fund at the World Bank. Financial support was also provided by the Asociacion Mexicana de Cultura, A.C.]

The purpose of this article is to study the effect of education on labor market participation and household consumption in a rural environment. The Tanzanian Universal Primary Education (UPE) program, which provides variations in education across locations and over time, is used as a natural experiment. Exploiting these two exogenous variations to instrument education, I find that education increases household consumption, especially in agriculture and in nonfarm self-employment activities. I also provide evidence that education increases the probability of working in agriculture. These results, initially surprising, suggest that returns to education in agriculture are positive, provided that the skills taught at school are suitable for agriculture.

This paper provides an overview of the available information concerning selected policy instruments intended to promote employer-provided training, including the stated rationale and objectives, the target groups and operational design as well as a at a summary of the evaluative evidence regarding their operation. The analysis focuses on policy instruments providing financial assistance or incentives, specifically, subsidies (including tax incentives and grants) and levy schemes that devote a least some share of their resources to continuing training. Training leave regulations are considered only to the extent that they can be treated as a form of subsidy or a levy scheme, depending on the main financing mechanism involved. Instruments that focus solely on improving the quality of training or enhancing transparency in the training market are not addressed. In addition to offering a description of different instruments, the paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses (or risks and opportunities, respectively) of different types of instrument or particular elements of instrument design. It also specifies principles of successful instrument design that have been put forth in the literature and concludes with some remarks regarding the choice of policies. Training funds in combination with levy schemes in OECD and non-OECD countries are appended. Individual sections contain endnotes. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

Scaling up good corporate social investment practices in developing countries is crucial to realizing the "Education for All" and "Millennium Development Goals". Yet very few corporate social investments have the right mix of vision, financing, cross-sector engagement and leadership to come to scale. Globally, 67 million children are not enrolled in primary school, over 200 million are in school but not mastering basic skills such as reading, and many millions more complete post-primary education without the skills needed to participate in society or the local economy. Overcoming these challenges will require swift and bold action by many actors, including governments, multilateral organizations, donors and civil society. Corporations can use their core assets to generate shared value for business and society by helping get children into school, setting a strong learning agenda and scaling up what works in education. This policy paper looks at what works and what is not working in corporate efforts to further education in developing countries. (Contains 54 endnotes.)

This report presents lessons from Tanzania's development experience of the past four decades, with emphasis on the period since the last report (1996), and assesses the imperatives for higher sustained growth and better livelihood for its citizens in the future. The background papers review and assess Tanzania's actual growth and poverty reduction performance against its large natural potential and against countries at a comparable stage of development; analyze the main reasons behind the performance record; and outline the strategic and institutional imperatives for exploiting the country's vast potential for sustained growth and reduction of poverty in the long and medium term. Following the introductory and explanatory material and the background papers, the report is divided into seven parts: (1) "Background Information"; (2) "Review of Recent Macroeconomic Performance"; (3) "What Matters Most for Growth?"; (4) "Combating Poverty, Ignorance, and Disease"; (5) "Unleashing the Private Sector's Potential for Tanzania's Development"; (6) "Pacemakers for Sustainable Economic Growth"; and (7) "Performance of Zanzibar's Economy." (Contains extensive figures, tables, statistical appendixes, and 160 references.) (BT)

Although a growing theoretical literature points to credit constraints as an important source of inefficiently high child labor, little work has been done to assess its empirical relevance. This paper examines the direct effect of a transitory income shock on household child labor choices, as well as the extent to which access to credit helps families smooth away the impact of a shock. Increasing child labor in response to a transitory shock carries important costs for human capital development because of the often-irreversible disruption in schooling. Panel data from approximately 800 agricultural households in the rural Dagera region of Tanzania show that transitory income shocks, as proxied by accidental crop loss, led to significantly increased child labor among children aged 10-15. Moreover, the availability of collateralizable assets offset the effects of income shocks on child labor, even when controlling for other sources of family wealth and for household-level unobservables. Findings corroborate a large theoretical literature on the relevance of credit constraints in predicting child labor and suggest that expanding access to credit might be effective in mitigating the prevalence of child labor. (Contains 41 references) (Author/SV)

The AIDS epidemic is making orphans out of many African children and threatens to reverse hard-won gains in raising school enrollments. The average gross primary enrollment ration (GPER) the number of children enrolled as a percent of the total number of children of school age was only 77% for Sub-Saharan Africa in 1996. The countries are hard-hit by the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic, with infection levels ranging from 8% of adults in Tanzania and Uganda to 25% of adults in Zimbabwe. But, excepting Malawi, the countries with higher HIV prevalence have higher 1997 enrollment rates. A study measured the impact of adult deaths and orphan status on household decisions to enroll children in primary (elementary) school. It also identified the characteristics of children with the lowest schooling and the policy variables that will raise enrollments. The study focused on the enrollment of children (ages 7-14) using data from a longitudinal household survey conducted from 1991-1994 in northwestern Tanzania. Findings reveal that Tanzanian households are coping with adult deaths by delaying enrollment of young children (ages 7-10), while maintaining enrollment of older children (ages 11-14). Among orphans, only young maternal orphans are being held back; but they eventually enroll at the same rates as other children. The impact of a recent adult death on delayed enrollment depends on the economic status of the household. Children in low-income households have delayed enrollment following an adult death; while less poor households do not. (Contains 26 notes, 13 figures, 2 tables, 34 references, and a data annex.) (BT)

This paper compares the changing role of local government in developing countries' education systems. Using case studies, it examines the role of local government in Zimbabwe, Chile, India, and Tanzania, thus offering a representative range of low- and middle-income countries. Each of the countries attempted to use local government as a source of additional revenue for schooling and as a mechanism for introducing greater equality and democracy into the schooling system. The booklet considers the nature and extent of local government involvement in schooling in relation to management and policy-making; finance of education; provision of school buildings; staff provisions, such as teacher recruitment, deployment, appraisal, promotion, and training; curriculum planning, development, and implementation; and monitoring and evaluation. After each case study, some general points concerning trends in local government provision of schooling and some reasons for these trends are suggested, followed by a discussion of the equity and efficiency of these provisions. The findings reveal that the historical, political, and economic circumstances of each country accounted for the differences as well as similarities in the nature and extent of local government provisions. The article outlines some issues and questions that could inform future research on schooling in South Africa. (Contains 21 references.) (RJM)

Fiscal constraints have limited education budgets in developing countries. Increases necessary to expand access to highly subsidized and publicly provided education have not been forthcoming. Another concern is that education is being inadequately and inefficiently provided by the public sector. This study is an inquiry into the nature of the achievement differential between public and private schools in Colombia and Tanzania. It questions the extent to which the differential in academic achievement can be attributed to student characteristics rather than school inputs, attempts to estimate the quality differences between the public and private secondary schools in these two countries, as measured by student performance on the achievement tests (ACATESTs). Estimated sample-selection effects suggest that Colombian students sort themselves by type of institution, public or private; but Tanzanian students are selected by a hierarchical mechanism, with the lowest-scoring students entering private institutions. These effects are consistent with the different institutional frameworks for educational choice in these two countries. For each country, however, private schools offer an achievement advantage. By standardizing for differences in student and school attributes, private school students have higher achievement test scores. (Author/NL)

Emphasis placed on adult education in Tanzania stems directly from the decision to bring about development through an egalitarian rural transformation. The political decision to stress socialist development with priority to those living in rural areas preceded the creation of the adult education network and shaped its structures and organization. The basic unit of the network is the community school which serves during part of the day as the primary school for children while operating in the afternoons as an adult education center. The subjects that are taught at each center vary depending on the interests of the people, the availability of teachers, and the development priorities in the district. To carry out the large tasks assigned to adult education, a network of supervisory and coordinating personnel has been established. Four types of adult education programs which operate through the network are functional literacy programs, discussions of national policies, short-term mass education programs, and local education programs. (This paper includes a discussion of institutions and organizations which have a major adult education role, such as Kivukoni College, workers' education organizations, rural training centers, cooperative education agencies, the Tanganyika Library Service, and the Institute of Adult Education. Five questions about the relationship of education and development which the author feels need fuller treatment conclude this paper.) (EM)

This paper discusses the development of library cooperation and the centralization of library services in East Africa (i.e., Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda). Included are descriptions of interlibrary lending arrangements, the role of library associations, the education of professional librarians and the training of library paraprofessionals, specialized library networks, legal depository libraries in East Africa, cooperative bibliographic services (including the development of union lists and union catalogs), and library services and technical processes (including cataloging and classification, acquisitions, data processing, and the manufacture of library equipment). An 8-item list accompanies the text. (JL)

This paper reports on a survey of library membership and circulation figures from seven Tanzanian regional libraries over a 4-year period which was undertaken to evaluate the performance of the Tanzanian Library Service in its capacity as a national network providing free library service, promoting education as a lifelong process, and supporting literacy and adult education programs for the Tanzanian populace. Standards for the measurement of library performance are outlined with respect to the utility of library facilities, the availability of library materials, and the variables affecting the quality of user services. Results of the survey are presented, with an emphasis on the reasons given by the libraries surveyed for the decline in library issues over the period studied. A series of suggestions for the reversal of the declining trend in library use made by the survey respondents is then reviewed. A summary of the survey results in relation to the Tanzanian library environment closes the report. A reference list and set of data tables accompany the text. (JL)

Combining community participation in decision making with methods of social investigation, participatory research focuses on involvement of the subjects of the research in the research process. Adult educators are exploring this research method which, unlike quantitative research, serves the needs of individuals and not those of policy makers who need convenient, portable information and researchers who survive economically by collecting, packaging, and selling knowledge. Renewed attention has been brought to the weaknesses of the survey appoach, the most commonly used research method. It oversimplifies social reality and is therefore inaccurate; is often alienating, dominating, or oppressive in character; does not provide easy links to possible subsequent action; and uses methods which are not consistent with the principles of adult education. Work continues on finding alternative strategies, one of which is participatory research. This concept rests on the premises that a research process can immediately and directly benefit and is part of a total educational experience for the population involved in the entire dialectic process, that its object is the liberation of human creative potential and the mobilization of human resources for the solution of social problems, and that it has ideological implications. As an example, a Tanzanian village used this process to improve low-cost grain storage. (YLB)