By Sharifa Kalokola, Success Reporter
Science has always been Moses Mhazile’s passion right from the days when he was a young student in secondary school. Like many of his peers then, he had genuine affinity for the subject; and the young man hoped that one day he would practise science.

He had that chance when he finally got a job as a science teacher at a government school. But he still cannot beat the feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration, as if he has not realised his long cherisehed dream.

“I honestly do not feel like this is what I wanted to do. I desire more and much better than the current situation,” says Moses, a science teacher at Msechu Secondary School in Sumbawaga.

Like many science teachers in the country he has found himself battling to strike a balance between his burning passion to make an impact in the life of his students through science and the frustrating working conditions he has had to contend with since he started teaching the subject in the remote area.

Huge workload
“One of the worst things I have had to grapple with over the years is the work load, which is so huge that you can’t handle it. I teach science from Form One to Four,” he says, adding:

“As if this is not enough, we are teaching science without laboratory technicians, who are needed for very important practical lessons.”

Apart from the lack of facilities, many science teachers countrywide lament the poor remuneration and absence of housing facilities. They say what they are getting is not commensurate with the qualifications they have and the demand for the services in both private and government schools.

“Our pay is so poor that it can hardly sustain my subsistence throughout the month, and yet I have to rent and live an exemplary life to the students that I teach,” says Moses.

The scarcity of science teachers is Tanzania is not news anymore. Though exact figures are hard to get, there have been reports that the country has lost a significant number of qualified science teachers to countries like Botswana and Namibia, where they are paid much better, and lead decent lifestyles befitting a teacher whose qualifications are on high demand.

And an increasing number of the few, who have remained, like Moses, are likely to change careers to more lucrative jobs. They cite poor conditions in the rural areas where the ministry posts them after graduation.

Appalling shortage
In Ruvuma, for example, some defiant secondary school science teachers posted to the region “fled” to other areas with better facilities, or changed careers, creating an appalling shortage of 750 science teachers in the last 12 months. 

The pathetic situation is not only contradicting the country’s commitment to train her own 21st century scientists but also shutters dreams of students wishing to pursue science related subjects. The five districts in the region namely Mbinga, Songea Urban, Songea Rural, Namtumbo and Tunduru have a total of 735 schools.

According to a recent Regional Education Development Report, Ruvuma Region needs at least 1,036 teachers for science related subjects alone (Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics). This is the same situation in many other areas throughout the country.

Teachers diverging
In order to ease the crisis, the government has promised to recruit secondary school science teachers from other EAC partner-states. The minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ms Celina Kombani, made the announcement in Parliament last year. Whether or not the pledge will be fulfilled, posterity will tell. But Ms Kombani said during the 2010/2011 financial year, the government would provide each secondary school in the country with five new teachers.

She said the teachers would be part of the 49,000 educators the government earmarked to recruit during the fiscal year.

At various forums, experts have warned that the shortage of well-trained, career-committed science teachers is fast creating a gap with serious economic consequences as many students, from high school to college and university shun science due to lack of qualified educators.

Apparently, many students are not prepared to take the risk of pursuing subjects at either college or university level, whose teachers they have no confidence in.

“It is a vicious circle because we do not have the people to teach the subjects and so we don’t have students to study the subjects, which translates into a situation whereby we don’t have enough science graduates, and therefore, a dearth of science experts, which cripples the economy,” says Gratian Mukoba, an educationist in Dar es Salaam. Joshua Sengeo, the head of Arusha Teachers College, says the best stopgap measure the government must urgently take is recruiting as many foreign science teachers as possible to fill the gap.

“But even so, we need to address the concerns regarding accommodation, laboratories and so forth. Even those foreign teachers will leave if the conditions are not good enough,” he says.
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