Education Policy under review

Education and Training Policy (ETP) 2014 is being reviewed to meet the current and future education demand, with the first proposed draft expected to come out by December, 2022, the Parliament was informed here on Thursday.

The new policy seeks, among other issues, to see if there is any possibility to make secondary education compulsory for all, after receiving views from stakeholders, according to Deputy Minister for Education, Omary Kipanga.

Mr Kipanga was responding to a question posed by Special Seats Member of Parliament (MP), Husna Sekiboko (CCM) who had demanded to know what the government was doing to make secondary education compulsory.

In his response, the deputy minister said that currently, the government was receiving and assessing views provided by stakeholders regarding the proposed policy.

“Therefore, the decision to make the secondary education compulsory will depend on views from stakeholders and the current demand,’’ he said, insisting that the first proposed draft was expected to be released in December this year.

The current policy has been criticized by different education stakeholders for its inability to address challenges related to access to educational opportunities and quality of education and training in the country while at the same time developing adequate and competent human resources to transform and sustain the country’s development.

These criticisms, among others, were well received by the government, which resulted in the decision to review the policy. This review, therefore, comes as a contribution to the review process.

With education stakeholders insisting that ETP of 2014 was outdated, this is among reasons that prompted President Samia Suluhu Hassan to direct a review of the education policy and curricula to strengthen the quality of education in the country.

The process of reviewing the policy and curricula follows directives issued by President Samia during her maiden speech in Parliament last year.

The ministry of Education, Science and Technology formed a team of experts led by Prof Joseph Semboja to review the policy, while reminding of the report by Makweta commission in which the main information is contained in the 2014 education policy.