Tanzania announces new combinations at A-level

DAR ES SALAAM: IN a significant development for Tanzania’s education sector, the government has unveiled 49 new subject combinations for students who are set to join Form Five in 2024.

The announcement, made by the Minister for the President’s Office for Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG), Mohamed Mchengerwa, in Dar es Salaam yesterday, marks a pivotal step in implementation of the new education policy.

Minister Mchengerwa outlined the rationale behind the latest additions, emphasising their alignment with the evolving needs of the education system.

The newly introduced subject combinations are categorised into seven groups, encompassing social sciences, language studies, business studies, science, sports, arts, and religious education.

“The addition of these new combinations brings the total to 65, supplementing the existing 16, and will be rolled out starting July of this year,” stated Minister Mchengerwa.

Furthermore, Minister Mchengerwa highlighted the government’s commitment to facilitating greater flexibility for students in choosing their areas of specialisation.

He announced that graduates of Form Four in 2023 now have the opportunity to revise their choices for Form Five specialisations and courses in teaching colleges and vocational education programmes through an electronic system.

The completion of data entry into the database, containing information from students’ selection forms completed during their time in school, signifies a critical milestone in streamlining the selection process.

Minister Mchengerwa emphasised that these changes align with the Education and Training Policy of 2014, as well as the updated Education Curriculum for Form Five.

Minister Mchengerwa encouraged graduates to capitalise on this opportunity to tailor their educational paths according to their aspirations and performance. He underscored the importance of parental involvement in guiding students towards making informed choices.

The exercise to modify combinations and colleges will commence from March 19, 2024, to April 30, 2024.

Minister Mchengerwa urged students, parents, and guardians to seek professional guidance to ensure informed decision-making during this period.

He further said that it was due to the fact that during the filling of the initial selection forms, 49 new combinations were not in the selection list and also the results of the Form Form exam had not come out to enable the student to have better choices based on their performance.

Thus, he said the exercise will provide more opportunities for students to increase options and make new combination and course options.

“I would like to urge parents/guardians to participate in this exercise by consulting with their children in making the right choices based on their performance.,”Mr Mchengerwa said all graduates are encouraged to make adjustments to the specific combinations and courses according to their performance, by entering the Student Selection MIS available through the selfform.tamisemi.go.tz link.

In addition, instructions for graduates and how to make changes are available on the student selection system. In order to enter the system, the graduate will have to use the Form Four examination number in 2023, last name, year of birth and the pass marks they got in the subject they will be asked by the system or any question they will be asked.

“The exercise to change combinations and colleges will kick off on March 19, 2024 to April 30, 2024. Students, parents and guardians are reminded to get professional and academic advice before making a combination or course change,” Minister Mchengerwa said.

Mr Mchengerwa urged students, parents/guardians to make good use of that time to avoid challenges that may arise immediately after the results of the selection of students to join Form Five and colleges are announced.

Some of the notable new subject combinations include History, English Language and Chinese (HLCh); History, Geography and Literature in English (HGLi); Economics, Business Studies and Accountancy (EBuAc); Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science (PMCs) ; Literature in English, Music and Sports (LiMS) ; Kiswahili, French and Theatre Arts (KFT) and Divinity, History and Geography (DHG).

This latest initiative builds upon previous efforts by the government to enhance the educational landscape, following the introduction of five new subject combinations in 2021.

The new combinations were Physics, Mathematics and Computer (PMC); Kiswahili, French, Chinese (KFC); Kiswahili, English, Chinese (KEC); Physical Education, Biology, Fine Art (PBF) and Physical Education, Geography, Economics (PGE).