Impact of the project

Improved Access to Quality Education in Songwe Region by the end of 2021

Project Outcome(s) (for this phase)

Improved Access to Quality Education in 20 Primary Schools in Mbozi District Council

Outputs

1. Improved parents' and community engagement in education process of the children.

2. Improved teaching quality in target schools.

3. Increased school attendance among girls and boys.

4. Improved performance of the school management.

Partners

Government: District authorities from different departments like Education, Social Welfare, Community Development, Quality Assurance and Water, officials at ward and village level.

Teacher Colleges – Vikindu, ADEM, and RUWASA[1] in Songwe.

NGOs: Heifer International Tanzania was working in 10 of the 20 projects schools on WASH activities but the project has been phased out by June 2019. UNICEF has trained two teachers per primary school in 170 schools in the whole Mbozi District on 3Rs but most of the teachers have been relocated to other districts and regions.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

Problem relevance to the national or local context

The Tanzanian Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP) for 2016/17 to 2020/21 is guided by the national 'Education and Training Policy 2014', focusing on universal basic education; expansion of technical and vocational education, combined with greater enrollment in science and mathematics; and a consistent focus on quality teaching and learning, and inclusion.

In Tanzania, according to the reading, writing and mathematics assessment which was conducted by NECTA, a large percentage of children are able to read (almost 80% scored at least 78% on the reading test); however only 23% attained a satisfactory level of reading with comprehension. The national early grade mathematics assessment (2018) for Grade II students shows an alarming result of 36%.

Following the introduction of the national Big Result Now campaign in 2013 there has been a steady improvement in Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) pass rates to 50.6% in 2013, 57.0% in 2014, 67.8% in 2015 and 70.4% in 2016. National Primary retention has gradually decreased, from a reported retention of 100% in 2009, to 85% in 2013 and just 56% in 2016. Dropout at national level rose by almost a third at primary between 2009 and 2016, to an average annual rate of 6.4%. Results from 20 schools showed that the dropout average annually is at 3% (3%m and 2%f). Should the current situation in terms of dropout and year-on-year promotion prevail in the future, just 64% of children commencing primary today would expect to finish the primary cycle (62%m/67%f). Despite achievements recorded in the implementation of the policy like high enrollment of children in pre and primary schools, there are still challenges facing quality of primary education especially in rural areas such as Mbozi District. These Include: Poor engagement of parents & community in the education process of their children, poor school attendance among girls and boys, poor teaching quality in target schools and low performance of the school management

International and national obligations exist with regard to access to quality education (international instruments, national legislation as well as state policies

Tanzania acknowledges that quality education is the bedrock of National development, in parallel to the National EP-2014 free and compulsory quality education; UNCRC (Article 28 and 29); ACRWC (Article 11) and SDG 4 that states "By 2030, every child will have an access to an inclusive and quality education"; NG-WASH S.7.5 Education on MHM in schools; EP-2014 S.5-School management levels.

The problem that the project will strive to address

The primary schools 'education situation in Mbozi District is not satisfactory. The project will improve ac-cess to quality education as a result of low attendance, poor performance and high drop-out rate in 20 Primary schools of Mbozi District Council. The needs assessment conducted in 7 out of 20 targeted schools confirmed that there is a high rate of absenteeism. Out of 6'051 Pupils, 253 (4.2%) Pupils did not attend schools on January, 220 (3.6%) Pupils did not attend schools on February and 247 (4.1%) did not attend schools on March for the first quarter of 2019 (average for the first quarter 4%). The highest rate per school has been recorded at Shiwinga primary school where there is an average of 66 (7%). The findings show that boys are the one who lead the absenteeism due to participating in farming activities during school days/hours. Girls missing classes during their menstrual period, there is no any special support given on Menstrual Health Management (MHM) programs to minimize this incidence of girls missing classes' due to families negative perception/believes about menstrual health, parents tell them to stay at home until they finished their period (one week each month). In relation to the low academic performance, findings showed that only 69%, 61% and 78% of STD I Pupils knows how to write, read and do arithmetic, respectively only 85%, 81% and 91% Pupils of STD II know how to write, read and do arithmetic. The findings show that reading is the most difficult part for the early grade pupils. The results from the 20 project schools showed that the average dropout is 4% class IV and VII students, overall retention rate for STD I-VII was 97%, the students attendance rate is 86%; and performance rate for STD VII is 66% (62% m and 69% f) during 2018. The project will deliver the 3Rs, improvisation and child rights trainings to 34 STD I-II teachers; and PTM, improvisation and child rights training to 148 STD III-VII teachers from 20 partner schools. Also, will construct two latrines blocks with 12 pits including 2 changing rooms for girls in two schools and construction of 10 water wells with installed rope pump to provide water in 10 schools.

Related human rights gaps and violations

UNCRC – violation of article N^o. 28/29 (lack of access to quality education for all). Access to quality education: still gap to implement the national educational policy of 2014 and ESDP for 2016/17 to 2020/21. Though, the Government had developed the National Plan of Action to end Violence Against Women and Children in Tanzania 2017/2018- 2021/2022 there are still gaps in its implementation i.e the establishment of child protection committees.

Insights of area of working (districts, towns, communities, municipalities, villages etc.)

Mbozi district is a rural area in the western part of the country; the population mainly depends on farming activities and cattle farming. The district has been chosen due to low performance of schools and due to complementary water and sanitation work already done by SHIPO in 10 of the targeted schools. Five wards of Mbozi district are the most affected by child labour, poor school learning environment, low attendance, poor teaching quality and low awareness of child rights and low importance of education among the community, namely Igamba, Magamba, Itumpi, Isansa and Shiwinga. The 20 schools have been selected in collaboration with District Education officer, 5 ward education officers and the project team, perceived with poor academic performance; low attendance; and high dropout rate.

The most affected populations/communities by the problem

Primary school children (boys and girls) within the project area don't access equal rights to quality education due to poor engagement of parents and community at large in education process of their children, poor teaching quality and low performance of the school management board.

Root causes of the problem, meaning causes of failures to comply with the rights to education and children's skills development, the obligations of duty bearers and their capacities to protect, respect or fulfil the right to quality education.

Poor engagement of parents and community in the education process of their children:

The low support of parents in the education process of their children – reflected in low support of parents in scholastic materials and engagement of boys and girls in farming activities during the classes - is mainly caused by low awareness on child rights/ protection and the importance of education but also due to limited financial resources of parents and lack of functional child protection committees at village and ward level to advocate for safeguarding of children rights at community level.

Poor school attendance among boys and girls

Due to low gender awareness of the school management board, most school facilities do not consider gender specific needs including Menstrual Health Management (MHM) requirements for girls. Therefore, attendance during menstruation cycle is low. Boys and girls low school attendance is further rooted in their obligation to participate in farming activities or household chores of their parents as they depend on their support to earn an income.

The absence of possibilities to participate for girls and boys in schools creates a non-attractive school environment and does not motivate them to go to school.

Poor teaching quality in target schools

There are insufficient funds allocated by the government to implement the national Education policy, this includes provision of teaching materials and in-service training to teachers to improve their teaching skills and techniques in reading, writing and arithmetic, application of new curriculum, preparation of teaching materials, participatory teaching methods and challenging subjects.

Low performance of school management board

Head teachers, assistant head teachers, academic teachers, school committee and WEOs have limited capacities to manage and supervise their schools because they are appointed without trainings to improve their skills on leadership, management and school development plans mainly due to limited training opportunities provided by the government.

PROJECT APPROACH

Project foresee to address the challenges through:

Poor engagement of parents and community in the education process of their children:

By providing awareness raising sessions for parents and the community, their engagement is expected to raise. By the formation of child protection committee in collaboration with local government authorities (LGA) at ward and village level, the project will support child rights and safeguarding at community level.

Poor school attendance among boys and girls

By providing sensitization trainings to parents about the importance of education in collaboration with LGA, the attendance of boys should increase. Through awareness raising activities for girls and parents/community in general with LGA, the knowledge about (Menstrual Health Management (MHM) should increase and promote the school attendance of girls. With help of social welfare officer, the establishment of school clubs for boys and girls where they can raise their voice should additionally motivate children to attend school regularly. Last but not least, by providing training to the school management about the importance of gender aspects and by the rehabilitation of schools facilities that consider gender specific needs (changing rooms, rehabilitated latrines, water) the school attendance of girls should increase.

Poor teaching quality in target schools

By providing different capacity building trainings to teachers through the support of the teacher colleges in the region, their teaching capacity will be improved. In addition to that, provision of school furniture (desks and chairs) will lead to a better teaching environment and finally lead to improved teaching quality in the target schools.

Low performance of school management board

By providing training on leadership, management and good governance to the school management members and by providing training to the school committee members on their roles and responsibilities in collaboration with ADEM, the school management will be improved.

Level(s) of interventions of the project (individual, institutional and policy)

Policy level: The project will advocate for quality education through sharing experiences and lessons learnt with other education stakeholders like TEN/MET, the Global Action Week on Education (GAWE) or the participation in National and International events such as The Day Of African Child and The International Day Of Girl Child. In addition to that, SHIPO will sign a MoU at district level highlighting their role and responsibilities.

Institutional level: At institutional level, the schools will benefit from capacity building of teachers on teaching skills, child rights and preparation of teaching and learning materials. Secondly, awareness creation to parents and community on child rights as well as build the capacity of school committee member on their roles and responsibility and good governance and leadership skills to the school management. As well as establishment and strengthening of child protection committees at Village and Ward level

Individual level: interventions at institutional level will be carried out in order to increase the attendance and academic performance of children. In addition, interventions at institutional level through establishment and strengthening school clubs, will lead to improved participation of children (individual level) in decision making and realization of their rights.

Participation of the stakeholders in stages of the project (planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation)

Assessing Needs: a needs assessment was conducted in 7 out of 20 schools with the DEO's-office,-Ward leaders, Schools administration, teachers, parents/community, and students in order to identify their needs.

Planning: Start up workshop will be conducted to elaborate the project and responsibilities of the stakeholders at all levels – teachers, parents, community, community leaders, ward education officers, District and official from Local government.

Implementation: All responsible stakeholders will be engaged during the implementation of the project and provide their technical support whenever required

Monitoring: aiming at being more accountable, a system for monitoring and pedagogical supervision will be established. Jointly monitoring visits will be conducted with district education technicians.

Assessment: The results of the project evaluations will be disseminated to all responsible stakeholders

Empowerment of different project's Stakeholders

Children will be empowered to have self-esteem, self-confidence and improved academic skills; teachers will be able to prepare learning and teaching materials and gain skills on how to involve children in the learning process, parents and community will be able to protect their children and contribute to school improvement, school management will be able to supervise their teachers and elaborate and implement school development plans and the government officials will mobilize more resources to improve school learning environment and building skills of teachers.

Project sustainability

Building the capabilities of teachers, school management, WEOs and school committee members and parents and community. Formation and strengthen of mentor teachers who will remain to continue coaching other teachers after the end of the project. The project is designed to involve stakeholders at different levels; this will create project ownership from grassroots to district level: quality assurers, district and ward Education Officers, Community Development Officers and District Social Welfare Officers in training and monitoring so that they continue supporting the project. Likewise, the involvement of facilitators from teaching collages who are competent in application of new curriculum, PTM, 3Rs, challenging subjects and preparation of teaching materials will contribute to the sustainability of the project.

MONITORING, REPORTING AND EVALUATION

For ensuring the monitoring covers the quality of education in project, SHIPO is having in place a communication system software known as Visible Impact where the daily project operations/activities/events will communicated and monitored and shared internally and externally

The data collection as per project milestone will be collected by M&E team from SHIPO. The project management will ensure the allocated resources for this task are provided.

Project monitoring will be conducted in weekly, monthly and quarterly basis depending on activity/indicator type, each school will be provided with monitoring tool; where they will record outcomes from lesson observation, use of PTM, students' attendance, performance and dropouts in schools. Likewise, whole school targets conveying, on marks in school development plans and children clubs and schools management effectiveness.

Quality assurer and Ward Education Officers (WEOs) will join quarterly monitoring visits to schools for data collection, monitoring and coaching. Outcomes and learning from these visits will be shared at the District and ward education meetings, project meetings including steering committee.

Learning from school level will be shared at quarterly steering committee meetings. Minutes from the ward education meetings will be shared and reviewed at monthly project meetings. Learning will be evaluated at each level and used for decision making.

SHIPO will write Semi Annual and Annual Reports to PCF, District will receive quarterly report from SHIPO as per the new NGOs regulation.

The project will conduct once, a year review as a procedure of evaluating the project advancement. The final evaluation of the project will be conducted by PCF at the end of the project phase.

Stakeholder:

Female

Male

Total

1. Primary Schools pupils (STD III – VII) aged between 6 to 13 years;

3693

3742

7435

2. Primary school pupils STD I & II aged between 4 to 7 years

2220

2285

4505

3. Primary school teachers for STD I & II (for 3Rs, child rights)

27

7

34

4. Primary school teachers for STD III to STD VII

48

100

148

5. School directors and school management

60

140

200

6. School committee members

93

132

225

7. Child Right Protection Committees

200

210

410

8. Village, Ward and local government authority

24

41

65

9. Parents and community members

1000

1500

2500

10. Teachers college (trainers/facilitators)

1

1

2

11. Government officials at District level from different department including Education, social welfare, academic, community development, water (WASH), and Health.

3

4

7

Total Stakeholders

7369

8161

15531

Total number of schools supported

20

Total number of community supported

20