Practical vs theory: Ending the big debate
The debate that keeps on brewing in Tanzania about the education system sees two forms of modality pitted against each other.
On one hand we have the theoretical form of imparting education, where reasoning techniques and theories of knowledge reign supreme.
On the other hand practical form of teaching involves students doing things other than just reading about them – it is practical in nature.
For years people from different counts of professions have voiced their opinions on the effect of Tanzania’s pro-theoretic education system – complaining that a big percentage of the young educated generation are incompetent because all they do in classrooms is learn theories and not much practice.
This all goes down to the curriculum, which includes program development, program design, program use and program evaluation.
A curriculum as the educational program should have a balance of all human aspects, especially the mental and physical.
If the young graduates who enter the job market are anything to go by, then the Tanzanian curriculum has failed to address the pivotal role of a good curriculum in a manner that can imbue graduates with a competent and professional drive admired by all professions around the world as the norm for an excellent work ethic.
I had a chance to talk to a future doctor; a student at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Muhas).
Being a medical student she was a bit frustrated when she found out that part of a course she has to take was an Introduction to medicine. To her, this is not vital to the eventual attainment of a medical degree.
The problem of learning more theoretical lessons is part of the reason why some students learn without having a clear focus on what they want to be career-wise.
Some of the countries with the best education system in the world adopt a more precise and practical approach to education.
Take Finland for example, a country known to have the best education system in the world (according to various research reports, including the World Bank), teachers spend more time with children outside the classrooms than inside teaching them through practice and observation.
When nature studies are conducted the kids are taken into forests and gardens or zoos to be up and personal with the very natural environment they are studying. This form of teaching sparks their curiosity and they actually have fun and enjoy.
Very small acts of observation like this make a huge difference to a child’s mind development, therefore these kids have a better start at whatever profession they aspire to take on.
The other champion of education is Germany, though not in the top ten best education systems in the world, German students are very competent in their chosen professions. The combination of theory and practice, learning and applying is what makes German Vocational Education and Training system (VET) a dual one and the students more capable than most generations in the world.
Professor Alfred Riedal, a vocational education researcher from Munich Technical University noted that the students who pass through the system are competent both in theory and practice. Students spend time training in companies and can later be employed.
Everyone gains from this system, the trainees are able to orient themselves with clearly defined training standards. Students learn both in theory and by assimilation. If Tanzania wishes to prosper in its education standards then these are the examples that ought to be followed.
Education experts suggest that in order to have a well-developed education system that fosters practical teaching, then some of the common challenges facing Tanzania’s education system such as limited access to study material, lack of enough class rooms and poor infrastructure need to be dealt with. Also, lack of access to early stimulation, poor nutrition and the low quality of education in public institutions need to be attended to.
Experts further suggest that due to prevailing circumstances at schools, most students lack the confidence to express themselves due to the teaching methods.
Again, looking at more developed education systems in Europe, Finland has a policy where there is no competition between schools, therefore parents do not have to move their children to other schools with more facilities than others because of more funding or better teachers.
This means that there is more collaboration and sharing of resources. Such a situation helps in the development of a good teaching system where one school learns from another, practical lessons included.
Also, due to limited competition the teachers are left with enough autonomy to find out which teaching methods work and which don’t.
When the perfect method is proven effective than the rest, it is easily adopted by every teacher to be tried at their own classrooms.
In Tanzania school-going children often do not achieve foundational learning outcomes such as literacy, numeracy and life skills, which determine future performance despite staying for longer hours in the classrooms.
It has been proven that success is not determined by number of hours used for learning but the efficiency of the teaching methods.
A good modality is when theory and practicals are combined together with a lot of playing time.
Exams should be meant to test a student’s problem solving skills, life conquering mindset, and not how much a child has memorised the whole text book.
Grace Tendega, a politician who has experience in the education sector having worked as a teacher and also for the National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA), has for a long time advocated for education progress in Tanzania.
She says that teaching is a profession she always loved and sharing knowledge with the young generation gave her a piece of mind.
Mrs. Grace Tendega believes that Tanzania’s education system needs to be revised so that it can be relevant to the economy of today.
According to her, the education system should include vocational studies, because if the government wishes to take the industrial economy route, then they need to invest in quality technicians.
She went on saying that the country’s curriculum is not relevant to what is happening today in the work place. “Further intense research needs to be applied before amending our education system and the curriculum,” she noted. She further explained that most students fail to get decent jobs because the knowledge they accumulated is not gauged on a specific market place. “The students fail to self-employ, becoming a burden to the society.”
Never the less, she was also optimistic, saying that there are areas of employment that have no professionals hence the government has tried to invest in citizens who show prospect.
They were sent to study abroad so that they can later on occupy the jobs that were seriously lucking personnel, like the gas and oil mining. When it comes to employability, graduates from local universities have been found to be ‘half-baked’, ‘unfit for jobs’ and ‘lacking job market skills’.
Speaking to Fatma Subwa, a young self-employed businesswoman and recent graduate with a law degree, she explained that finding jobs is a menace. She continued by expressing her frustrations about the quality of education not only being dissatisfying but also not conducive to the present market.
Fatma came to realise that it was not only her who fell on hard times but in-fact, almost her entire classmates faced the sane predicament.
“This is the fate of most of the Tanzanian working class. People who paid through their teeth to liberate themselves from poverty by doing exactly what was promised to them – get education and definitely, you will have a rosier future, are now finding it hard to attain a job,” she noted. Part of the reason for failure to get jobs is due to limited competence level of graduates that is fueled by the education system where practical learning isn’t given the upper hand.
Subjects are taught in such a manner that whatever you do, passing the exams is the biggest and only obstacle you need to conquer, and not your overall understanding of the subject and its implications or your proficiency at the work place.
Arafat Ally Haji, an experienced and seasoned Banker, having worked for both local and regional banks, is of the opinion that our entire education system needs to be overhauled.
“We learnt in history class about Industrial revolution, yet we did not ask ourselves, why was Africa not part of the Industrial revolution? The industrial revolution passed and we were left behind, now we are in an era of AI (Artificial Intelligence) IoT (Internet of Things) and still we cannot catch up,” he says.
He believes that as much as we have benefited from the current system, now is the right time to rethink our entire education system and make it relevant to the current environment and its requirements.
