Kotinkarwack,
Your comments are interesting and elaborate but let me counter-comment on some of the raised issues.
The issue of who should finance basic education, in my view, requires a more serious consideration. I still think that the state should do all or most of the job and be easily held responsible when there is ineffectiveness in the education system. Of course, exceptions can be looked at accordingly. The risks of commercialising basic education are obvious, as can be clearly seen in Tanzania today. The state should do the financing in an environment in which the education system has been adjusted and given all the necessary means and teeth to do its job more efficiently. Private investors can find their opportunities in the areas of higher learning such as universities and technical colleges.
A developing country be it that it is endowed with masses of natural resources yet to be explored and those that are explored are on very dubious terms still need a thriving private sector be in just to inject a level of competition to the whole game. I understand that it is said that we are a very wealthy nation, but the reality on the ground is that sisi masikini wa kutupa. Relying on a government whose many priorities does require gazillions to implement may not meet the immediate need of the next generation. I could ask are the priorities in order?
I would still welcome the private sector taking that mantle in education, our neighbouring nations are doing this successfully but the difference they do have is a clearer comparison to what the delivery of education as performed by the government and those by the private sector can be measured in money terms.
Could I pose a question: How much does the government spend per pupil in the primary and secondary stages of education per annum? I will assume they do actually have a figure on this for we can see from such figures on whether the nation can afford to provide the adequate eduation (value for money).
When we hear of teachers and other teaching personnel not receiving their dues, it makes one wonder whether this is done deliberately or there is an actual shortage of funds to meet the obligations.
You disagree on the language issuethat Swahili should be used as the only medium of instruction in the entire education system. You argue that it is not a viable languageit is insufficient for teaching, for example, physical sciences. The response to this is that Swahili has been developed to a level sufficient enough to be used as a language for scientific and technological communicationbe it in the classroom, in a university lab, or at a scientific research centre. You can visit the Institute of Kiswahili Studies (IKS) at the University of Dar es Salaam and have a look at the excellent job done by our linguists. Its amazing! Ive visited them a number of times and have seen their publications. In short, the language/linguistic resources are there and will be surely further developed when the language is fully in use in education.
I believe as you typed this you did realise the missing ingredient for the well meaning work as performed by IKS. No one knows about them, they work as a silo, do things, great things but there is little effort to pass this on to the users. I opened up OpenOffice the free as in free beer office productivity application and was bamboozled by the terms used to refer the menu and icons of the application. Well, they might be the right terms to use, but I have never heard of those words used in everyday conversations, hence they remain to be great works of Swahili linguists.
In Sweden, you say, kids are exposed to multiple languages at their tender age. Thats true. The same thing applies to other Scandinavian/Nordic countries, the best example being Finland. But there is one thing common in all these countries: their native languages (Swedish, Finnish, Danish, and Norwegian) receive first priority and are languages of instruction from nursery to university and everywhere. Other languages, such as English, German, or Spanish, even Chinese nowadays, are learned for purposes of strategic international interactions and communication, including being able to study abroad, where, for example, English is used. Anywhere in the world, the best medium of instruction in schools and post-school institutions of education is the language best known among its users, language that is sufficient in terms e.g., of its lexis and grammar, language that can be learned easily and quickly. Swahili qualifies on all these benchmarks. We can learn from Sweden, for example, on how to expose children to multiple languages right from primary school. Knowledge of other international languages, particularly English and Chinese, is crucial for reasons that also apply to the Nordic region.
I agree, but the model of the Scandinavians still requires the multiple languages to be learnt at an early age, English is not only taught at higher levels but alongside their national language. Now Looking at their need to learn Finnish and Danish is because their own region is an economic powerhouse and they can sustain themselves I would assume but they have gone even further by learning German, English and now looking further afield to Chinese. I know most speak Afrikaans, but that is another story all together, but the roundabout info here is that, you make use of something for there is a definite purpose, Our neighbouring countries, and economic block, COMESA and the like, all use English, if Swahili was the main language, then I could support it as a medium, but if it is simply for misplaced patriotic notions and maybe assumption that it could make things easier, then I am very much against that.
Moreover, you think after several years, the yes
but
no will have matured into intelligent conversation. Your optimism is questionable. Current conditions that affect learning in our educational system, including those affecting teaching of the English language, stand to contradict your optimism. Fundamental changes are necessary for our children to have capacity for intelligent conversation. Also, have a look at the thread: Tutaachana lini na lugha ya kiingereza? There is an interesting conversation on this issueyou can also comment on some of the views and do so in Swahili (to some, as you know, English is a disgusting language!)
Read through that thread and I sense fear in most of the posts. The fear is again misplaced for there is the assumption that we could be better, be patriotic if we simply used Swahili but they fail to explore the actual need for the foreign languages, we simply don't use them for fun, but need to converse with the international population in our own capacities.
I am optimistic about our generation so derogatorily termed as "kanumba generation of yes...but...no...omg..." and here is my optimism, a few years back English was a feared language, remember terms like mzungu, anajua kizungu, mtoto wa Intanacina... But now I see the energy shown by our youth as they try to conjure up sentences with the little the have amassed from their well meaning teachers, this will mature in no doubt into intelligible conversations once they build on their vocabulary and generally use it more and more.
Having said this, I am aware that the developments on the broader East African Community scale have important implications for education in Tanzania. It is somewhat difficult to imagine how language issues will be incorporated into the process of harmonising education in the East African region. Swahili could be used in the entire East African Community as a language for teaching/learning. Other important languagesAfrican, European, Asiancould also be learned and given emphasis accordingly.
Will this EAC thing ever come to fruition? Remember, the nations that funded this exercise are themselves in dire straits from their bubble of a harmonized economic community. Are we economically mature to need and make use of such facilities, remember again, this mammoth can only work from a streamlined and well oiled economic machinery. Our region is burdened by issues of corruption, mismanagement of funds and what I see of the outcomes of the EAC would be more hardships to the common man.
The regional extent of what our backers envisage a viable economic region should be includes Somali, Ethiopia, DRC, I would bet they know or use very little Swahili, hence will be a non-starter t impose a language change to nations that can use English or have their own strong language identities.