Revisiting the Alternative Responses to the Perceived Quality “Decline” in Basic Education in Tanzania

Abstract

n this article, an attempt is made to revisit the alternatives that stakeholders (parents and/or guardians) commonly adopt to provide children with quality basic education (QBE) in Tanzania. The alternatives are a mere reflection underlying education stakeholders’ dissatisfaction with the current trend of quality “decline” in basic education. Central to the article is the argument that if the current education system offered quality basic education few people would feel the urge for other alternatives. It is, thus, a crucial time that the educational reforms and policies went beyond access to basic education, taking into account issues related to gender, equity, teaching and learning processes, good governance, and sustainability of quality education campaign outcomes. The article concludes, amongst others, with a notion of the market model in which the desire for quality education would appear to operate.