Education in Home Country
1. How old were you when you first went to school?...Six years old.
2. Did you attend any other schools? Where were they and how old were you when you went to these schools?... For my primary schooling, grades 1 through 7, I was six when I started. The school is located in Dar-es-Salaam. For my ordinary level secondary school I went to the countryside in Mbeya. I was thirteen when I started Form 1. For part of my advanced secondary school (about a year) I went to a school near to Dar, located in the Bagamoyo coast town. I was seventeen when I started Form 5. For my United World College (UWC) baccalaureate diploma I went to Mbabane in Swaziland and I was 18 years old..
3. Was there ever a tme in your life that you did not go to school? If so, how old were you and why did you stop going to school?... There has never been a time when I did not go to school. I have been in school my entire life.
4. What did the classes look like?... Well that depends on the class level. Usually primary schools are big in size, about 70 students in a class, pretty noisy and chaotic but fun. Secondary schools are much smaller and in my case I went to a girls-only Catholic school so we are talking high levels of discipline, much quieter and less sports. Praying, domestic science and a supurb academic performance are the predominant activities. UWC are international schools so the experience is totally different - a lot of adjusting and learning new things.
5. Did you go to private of public school? What is the difference?... For my primary school I went to a public school. The rest of my academic career has been in private schools. Well, the difference is pretty big, public schools are usually larger, have fewer teachers, are less organized, and generally do not produce good outcomes. Private schools are more customized to students' needs and are usually smaller in size. Most of the best schools in Tanzania are actually privately run, although this does not rule out a few of the top public schools.
6. What did you study?... Well for my primary education we pretty much learn everything - from math, science, arts, music, language (Swahili and English), history, geography to domestic science! It's pretty overwhelming, but fun. All subjects are taught in Swahili, except for the English class of course! In secondary schools, we still learn pretty much the same things, but in more detail and this time in English! Some schools choose to emphasize certain subjects. For example, my secondary school in Mbeya put an emphasis on domestic science. So we had classes like needlework and nutrition. Other schools don't have these kinds of classes. Some would focus more on technical knowledge like carpentry and stuff. Therefore, I studied everything offered in the curriculum. That would be - biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, English, Swahili (now as a subject), history, geography, civics and needlework (we had to choose between needlework and nutrition class, not both).
7. How did you review your homework? Where did you study after school?... For most of my primary school career, I reviewed my homework by studying at home, participating in discussion groups, prep classes (especially near exam times). My parents would often help with my homework. Things changed when I went to secondary school away from home. I studied in groups and privately during special study times allocated to us, but I made more use of the library and its resources. Same goes for the UWC experience. Here in college, I still discuss in groups, make more use of the library than any other time in my academic career, and for the first time I used the Internet and online resources.
8. What do you remember most about school in your home country?... Friends! Time to go to school was time to meet friends and have fun! I still maintain contact with my primary school friends and each time we meet it's like a family reunion. I also remember the academic competition in all the schools I attended! It was crazy, but I really liked it! It is probably what made me be here today!
Structure of Education in Home Country
9. How many students were in the classes?... The numbers vary depending on whether it's a public or a private school, big or small, boarding or day-time only, primary or secondary, etc. Private schools are smaller, about 30 students or less. Public schools are much bigger; you can have a total of 500 students in a class. About 70 to 100 students can occupy a classroom at one time!
10. What hours of the day and days of the week did you go to school?... Usually, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am through 4:00 pm. Most, but not all, schools have at least two breaks between classes, snack break at about 10:00 am and lunch break at about 1:00 pm.
11. What kind of materials did you use in class?... Normal stuff - exercise books for copying notes and homework, pens and pencils. Teachers wrote on the blackboard using a piece of chalk. Usually, we sat on desks (four people on one medium-sized, desk-like bench) and the teacher sat on the chair or would stand behind the table in front of the class.
12. What was the structure of the class? Did the teacher lecture to you, ask the class questions, or have you get into small groups?... Usually, the teacher would lecture, sometimes she/he would ask questions and people would raise their hands to answer the questions. We did not have the discussion style of teaching and I learned about this concept when I went to the UWC in Swaziland. Again, the teacher would stand or sit in front of the class, lecture the material, then write notes on the board. We would then copy the notes and the homework given to us. Classes were typically 40 minutes long (primary through secondary school). In the UWC we had much longer classes (an hour long or so).
13. Who teaches the class? Does anyone else help our in the class?... The teacher does. Nobody else does except for private classes that people attended at their own expense after school.
14. Who can go on to college? What does a person have to do to get accepted into college?... Those who pass the standardized national A-level examination proceed to "college." We don't have colleges, per se. Rather, we have universities (much bigger and have gradutate programs). There is a specific pass mark administered by the universities. The National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA) is responsible for marking all the national examinations taken in the country!
15. Is the school system the same for boys and girls? What did people in school expect from the girls? Is this different than what was expected from the boys?... Yes, the school system is the same for both boys and girls. There were several girls-only and boys-only schools, but even these followed the same system as all other co-ed schools in the country. Usually, people expected boys to be better in sciences and math and girls in languages and the humanities classes (history, civics, etc) - classes considered as "soft classes." Now and then girls will outperform boys and the perception in that school will change a little bit.
16. In your mind, how does an excellent teacher talk and behave?... Well, now that I have been exposed to multiple teaching styles, I can say an excellent teacher is one that gives and takes, if you may (listens to the students' views and incorporates them into the subject matter). Also, one who gives assignments that are exciting and challenging to the students, returns assignments on time, and can talk with students about issues outside of class. On the issue of behavior, an excellent teacher would be someone responsible, understanding, sensitive, outgoing and funny, but who also knows the boundaries between a teacher and a student.
Miscellaneous
17. How did the students dress for school?... We wore school uniforms.
In primary school: Blue skirt, white short sleeve shirts with the school's seal imprinted on them, white socks and white sneakers or black shoes, either short hair oor straight cornrows (not any other hairstyle) for girls. Blue shorts, white shirts (with the seal), white socks and white sneakers or black shoes, and only short trimmed hair for boys.
In secondary school: We wore long, red, pleated skirts, white polo shirts with the school's badge on the pocket, blue V-neck sweaters (the region had cold weather), absolutely short trimmed hair, white socks and black shoes.
In A-level secondary school: Blue skirts with a single pleat in front, white short sleeve shirts, blue tie, white socks and black shoes - absolutely short trimmed hair. For both primary and secondary school, absolutley no jewelry was allowed!
At UWC: No school uniforms (thank God!)
18. Did you have recess? What games did you play?... What's a "recess"? In primary school, we had netball and soccer and a dozen traditional games which I enjoyed very much. In secondary school, we only had netball (it's like women's basketball with a little bit different rules). In UWC, we had netball, basketball, soccer, tennis, swimming & diving, badminton, squash, track and cross country - imagine the culture shock!
19. How did you get to school? Did teachers go to your house?... For my primary school I walked to school - it was really close to home - maybe two or three blocks from my house. For the rest of my academic career I was in boarding schools.
20. In school did you sing songs about your country? Can you describe the songs?... We sang a lot of songs about my country in primary school. We sang the national anthem everyday before classes begin; in the music class most of the songs about my country were songs of praise for our independence, beauty, cultural heritage, and our leaders - stuff like that. We also had games that incorporated such songs. In secondary school, especially because the schools I attended were private and more religious oriented, we sang more religious songs (Catholic Christian, to be specific). Of course, we still could sing songs about my country, but, these lessened for the most part. The national anthem is sung in every school in the country.
21. Did you have a flag in your school? What did it look like? What does the flag mean?... Yes, every school has a Tanzanian flag and whenever the national anthem is sung, this goes hand in hand with the raising of the flag. The Tanzanian flag has four colors: green, blue, yellow and black. It's divided diagonally by a yellow-edged black band from the lower hoist-side corner; the upper traingle (hoist side) is green and the lower triangle is blue. Green stands for the forests and agriculture. Gold symbolizes the country's mineral wealth. Blue represents the waters and black represents the people.
22. How was religion involved in your education?... In primary school, we had religion classes - Catholics, Lutherans, and Muslims. They were just classes and were not incorporated into other subjects. No primary school was religion-based, but there were religion classes for the different faiths represented by students of the schoool. For example, on some days a Catholic nun would come over and read the Bible for the Catholics, as would a Lutheran pastor for the Lutherans. The Muslim students also had their own courses which were lead by either a Sheikh or a madrasa teacher. However, students did not take a class in a religion that was not theirs.
In secondary school, there were no such classes and only religious schools. It was interesting because in my Catholic school there were Muslim students and many of them ended up participating in mass and other church activities because they were the core of the school's social life. Religion was the life outside of class. We had a pretty respected school choir and we used to sing every Sunday during the morning mass. We used to pray before we ate, after we ate, before exams, at optional evening masses, when we participated in religious youth conferences, etc. The same goes for my A-level religious experience.
23. How were your parents involved in your education? Did your parents meet the teachers? Did you have report cards?... My parents were very involved in my education. They did meet with the teachers often, especially during my primary school years. Since I went to boarding schools, the only way that my parents could be involved would be the report cards and limited visits during the year.
24. In your family, what was more valued: your achievements, career and future, or the needs and desires of your family?... I would say more of the first two.
Money and Education
25. Did you have to pay for school? How was school paid for?... Primary and secondary school was paid for by my parents.
26. How much does school cost?... Again, it depends on the type of school. Public schools are usually cheaper than private schools. The cost of attending primary school is really subsidized by the government, so that every child can obtain at least the primary level of education, hence the really cheap school fees. It might cost no more than 10,000 Tanzanian shillings, which is equivalent to $10! Secondary school was about TShs. 500,000 a year, the equivalent of $500! The cost of attending UWC was paid for by my government (full scholarship).
27. If you can't pay, what do you do?... If you can't pay, you would not be able to attend school - unless hardship circumstances were considered. Currently, education is not free for all students, although the new president is considering implementing free education for primary school. If you cannot afford to pay for college, you must take a loan because there are not many scholarships. When people finish A-levels they normally work to earn money to go to school later on. The government subsidizes part of the cost, but the rest is still really expensive.
28. How do you get money to go to college?... The government pays for some part and you pay the difference. Usually, your parents would pay for it unless you have a job.
29. What if you don't have the money?... You would take a loan and pay it off after graduation.
Discipline
30. How were you disciplined in school in your country?... Most private and religious schools are much more disciplined because they are usually smaller in size and therefore easier to control. Public schools are harder to control due to their big size and are usually less disciplined than private schools.
31. What happens if you don't get the right answer or if you don't do your work?... There used to be corporal punishment during my primary school years. The ministry of education banned corporal punishment a few years ago. However, it does still occur in remote schools in the rural area because there is no special system to foresee that it is not happening. In such places, the teacher is almost seen as above the parent and the parent gives the teacher full reign with the children. Some parents do request that the teachers beat their children. This does not work in the towns because there are so many ways of reporting such treatment to the authorities and the school doesn't want a negative public image.
Now various methods of punishment exist, depending on what individual schools feel is the best way to promote discipline. In my A-level, the worst punishment would be to be locked in a room and left to think about what you did - this would usually be more than 5 hours.
32. What happens if you're not in school? Can you skip for any reason?... You can skip school during the holidays, due to sickness, death in the family, or any other previously reported circumstance. If you skip class without any reported cause, then you are punished. If you come late you could also be punished. However, most kids use public transport which is not very efficient and, thus, a lot of times they are delayed against their will. Teachers can't and don't differentiate between those that are late of their own mistake and those that are late because of their means of transport.
Ideal Teacher/Student/Classroom
33. What is your idea of a perfect student?... Respect for others, understanding and accommodating of other people's ideas and views, completes assignments on time, expresses the desire to learn.
34. As a student, what do you expect from yourself?... Discipline, especially with the timely completion of assignments; getting something out of my efforts; and to be able to make use of what I am learning in class ouside of class.
35. In your country, how did the teachers act toward their students?... In general, authoritative, although this is not true of every case.
36. How were your teachers trained? Did they go to college? For how long? Were there men and women teachers?... All teachers are trained depending on whare they are going to be teaching. Primary school teachers completed A-level and went to a teachers' college. The teachers spent two years in a teachers' college. For secondary school teachers, they have to complete a bachelor's degree in Education. Yes, there were both men and women teachers in all schools in Tanzania.
37. What do you need the teachers, students and school to be like in order for you to be happy and comfortable in the classroom?... Mutual respect, responsibility, sensitivity and a sense of purpose - of course, fun projects are always a good way to learn from each other.
Dreams and Goals
38. In your home country, what was the most important thing you learned?... There are a couple of important things I learned. a) That anybody can learn anywhere if they have the will to learn. b) That availability of resources makes a huge difference in someone's learning experience. c) That education is the only way to free you - my mother used to say that my college tuition will be paid off by my own head! She was right!
39. Who made the most significant impact on your education? Why?... When I was small, my parents made the significant impact on my education of course starting with the tuition, learning resources, etc. Starting from A-level, I was the one who made the most important decisions on my own education. I applied to schools I wanted to get into and incurred all the application costs, book fees, etc. Getting scholarships has also helped me to afford the cost of education.
40. If you could, what would you change about the educational system in your home country?... We definitely need more resources. Things like well equipped libraries, white boards and markers to replace the old fashioned black boards and chalk (chalk dust also has adverse impact on health), access to online resources, better designed classrooms (current classes are old, plain and boring). Teaching design could also be less authoritative - changing the traditional design of the teacher as a lecturer and a student as a recipient to be more discussion oriented.
41. What surprised you when you began to go to school in the United States?... School in the U.S. has a more relaxed design, more discussion; we don't address teachers as "Sir" or "Madam."
42. If you could, what would you change about the educational system in the United States?... I would lobby for the inclusion of more diverse perspectives in classes. Since I started studying in the U.S., I have noticed that most classes focus only on the phenomena in subject within the U.S. and totally leave out a more rounded approach that is inclusive of other parts of the world too. While it is difficult to study about everything that happens everywhere in the world, there are important issues to be addressed that I wish classes in the sciences, economics, and political science in particular would address.
For example, in an international politics course I took in college, I was expecting to receive a much more well-rounded approach to the things being discussed. Most of them were from the American perspective; if you brought up another perspective, it was listened to but you couldn't include it in a paper. The U.S. is a super power, but not the most developed country. In an economic investments class, I was the only international student in the class and that did not help. Although we were talking about investments, all the examples are from the U.S. and you must know the history of the companies here to understand their investments or even the jokes made by the professor and the other students. One example is using "The Simpsons." I couldn't understand the examples, and there were no prerequisites, so it was assumed that people just knew the stuff. I had to withdraw from that class because I did not want to have a bad grade in the class. Instructors need to consider their international population. In my statistics class, everything was about baseball.
43. What educational dreams do you have for yourself?... Well, I hope to eventually get into a public health graduate program after Macalester College.
44. What educational dreams do you have for your children or future children?... I have not started thinking about that yet, but now that this has been raised I think in general I would like them to have the best educational experience - if possible, at home.
45. Do you would definitely like to return home at some point?... Yes, I would like to return home at some point, even though it is easy to live here in terms of resources and opportunities, but home is always home and you want to go back. You have ties there (at home) and there is a responsibility to take care of your family. Once you have been here and seen all the opportunities, you end up thinking about home. I want future generations not to complain so much or go abroad for check-ups when we have excellent doctors, albeit scarce resources, at home.
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