Wait! Tanzania’s More With It Than the U.S.?

in Education by Candice Shakur — June 10, 2011 at 8:30 am | 0 comments

A Look at 1 Country’s E-Learning Strategy

Tanzania is in a bit of a predicament.  Their public school system doesn’t pay much, so many teachers have left.  Now the public schools are short a lot of teachers – about 85,000 of them!

 

Online Learning To the Rescue

You might think that the Tanzanian government would work to fix the problem by paying its teachers a competitive salary, but that’s not their plan.  Instead, its decision-makers have chosen to invest the little money they have in online schooling.

 

Tanzanian officials argue that the initiative, called Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow (TBT), is worth it.  As Jessica Long, TBT project coordinator said in a 2010 article:  “A teacher can be based in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) but be able to reach several classrooms, which are connected to the national electricity grid and the Internet across the country,”

 

Indeed, having access to e-learning will mean that Tanzania’s:

• citizens will be better able to compete in a global market
• limited number of teachers will be able to teach students in distant towns
• schools will have access to a more standard curriculum

 

But First They Need the Internet…

Their decision is a striking strategy, especially when you consider that most of Tanzania lives without access to the internet.

 

Plan International’s former Chief Information Officer, Kelvin Cantafio , wrote:

As in other developing countries, ICT (Information, Communication, and Technology) in Tanzania presents its own set of issues with 80% of the population living outside urban areas and low access to ICT infrastructure and skills.  Since 70% of schools have no power, multiple architectures are being developed to address the various levels of connectivity and power available across the country

 

The government is investing millions of dollars into networking its urban areas and will, eventually, work its way into more remote areas.  But considering the number of technical difficulties that can arise when setting up one connection, you can just imagine what an undertaking it is to network an entire nation.

 

In fact, the project was supposed to be piloted last year, but is isn’t quite on schedule.

 

What Can Tanzania Teach America About Online Learning?

Tanzania’s strategy for solving its educational woes is one that we in America should pay attention to, especially those of us interested in the future of online learning.

 

It could be argued that the US Department of Education is working to sabotage the future of most online schools through its strict regulations of for-profit colleges.  And while our politicians might be working to make enrollment harder, other countries like Tanzania are doing all they can just to have access to it.

 

So is this just a case of wanting what everyone else has?  Is Tanzania investing in e-learning just because a lot of other nations have access to it?  Or are they right?  Do online schools translate to more job opportunities, increased global competitiveness, and a better, more efficient use of teachers?

 

Leave a note in the comments to let us know what you think.

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Tags: e-learning internet online schools school system tanzania