Using a social justice framework to assess educational quality in Tanzanian schools

This paper uses a social justice framework to assess the educational quality of over 100 primary and secondary schools surveyed in northern Tanzania from 2009 to 2011. Significant shortages of teachers, infrastructure, and teaching resources were observed in all government schools. National test exam scores for secondary school students highlighted the growing inequities between private and public schools as a learning environment. Although Tanzania has made some progress, severely under-resourced schools and dismal exam scores raise questions about the quality of education offered. This paper calls for a radical transformation of the current curriculum, strategies, and accountability systems.