TANGA City Council has received 940.9m/ from Boost Primary Student Learning (BOOST) for the development and strengthening of the city’s pre-primary and primary education.
According to a statement issued by Musa Laban, Acting Head of the City Council Communications Unit, the funds would be used, among other things, to build a new primary school at Jaje within the City at a cost of 540.3m/.
BOOST is part of the Education Programme for Results (EPforR II), an innovative, results-based financing programme now in its second phase and supported by the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the World Bank, the government of Sweden (SIDA), the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
According to Mr Laban, the funds will also be used to build 12 new classrooms at Bombo, Mabawa, Mapambano and Msara primary schools at a cost of 300m/, with each school receiving three new classrooms.
As part of the city’s effort to strengthen pre-primary education, two new pre-primary school classrooms will be built under the BOOST programme, at Mapojoni Primary Schools at a cost of 89m/. The BOOST programme will also include the construction of fifteen new toilets.
According to a World Bank press release issued two years ago in Washington, BOOST will support the Government’s Education Sector Development Plan over the next five years by providing results-based financing to catalyze reforms and implement interventions in three main areas:
It aims to strengthen Tanzania’s education system in order to improve quality, equity, and access in the public education system by supporting the provision of safer and learning-conducive environments for pre-primary and primary students, assisting schools in meeting minimum infrastructure requirements, and implementing a Primary Safe School Programme (PSSP).
According to the statement, this component, which was developed in collaboration with the government and other development partners, will also support the construction of at least 12,000 classrooms and associated facilities, primarily in vulnerable rural communities.
The programme also aims to improve teacher competencies and classroom teaching quality by supporting the nationwide implementation of Tanzania’s Teacher Continuous Professional Development policy through a sustainable school-based approach complemented by a network of at least 800 primary hub schools equipped with ICT-smart classrooms and a Learning Management System that provides digitised teaching and learning resources.
This same programme also focuses on enhancing education financing, increasing community empowerment and strengthening the oversight of local government authorities in improving the quality of education service delivery.
BOOST will also strengthen the capacities of the implementing agencies—the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, as well as the President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government. It will also work closely with core education, and technical agencies like the Tanzania Institute of Education, the National Examination Council of Tanzania, and the Teacher Service Commission.
The new programme, according to Xiaoyan Liang, World Bank Lead Education Specialist and Task Team Leader (TTL) for BOOST, carefully balances system strengthening with the direct provision to fill important service delivery gaps, particularly in rural and vulnerable communities.
“It builds on the strong foundation laid by the previous programme for results,” Xiaoyan was quoted as saying, adding that “it goes beyond to expand access to preprimary education, leverage ICT for teaching and learning, and strengthen decentralised education governance.”
