SOMAFCO Trust tour to Tanzania

Moses Madziba, recruitment officer at TEACH South Africa, recently travelled to Tanzania with the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO) Trust, as part of their OR Tambo Edu Tours.

Through this initiative, the trust aims to expose young South Africans to cultural learning experiences and so foster social cohesion. Moses said that the tour “was an eye-opener on how other people live” and that it made him realise the importance of information sharing and mutual learning.

One of the dialogues that took place during the week-long tour centred on common challenges faced by both South African and Tanzanian education sectors. The dialogue took place at Sokoine University of Agriculture at Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College campus in Morogoro, Tanzania. Key insights from the dialogue were as follows:

• Around 80% of the Tanzanian population have access to basic education and can read and write in Swahili.
• English is used as a medium of instruction in high schools only. Learners are taught in Swahili during their primary school years.
• The Tanzanian curriculum is reviewed and the education system monitored and evaluated every five years.
• Despite achievements, government schools suffer a huge shortage of teachers, and a number of schools have been established without furniture or proper resources.