Tanzania now moves to establish centralised education data system

Speaking at a technology symposium co-hosted by the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board (HESLB) and AdAPT IT yesterday, minister for Education Prof Adolf Mkenda said the centralised system was nearing completion.

The symposium that brought together innovators, ICT experts, decision makers and higher learning institution representatives ran under the theme; Digitally Connecting Institutions by Driving Transformation in Higher Education.

“The team working on this platform has told me they are at the final stage. Soon, we’ll have a unified system that captures every student’s data—from early learning to higher education,” Prof Mkenda said.

He emphasised the system’s potential to address longstanding challenges in tracking student progress, dropouts, and graduate numbers, especially at the university level.

“We want to identify every student by a unique number. This way, we can follow their entire academic journey and understand when and why they drop out—even in universities,” he said.

Currently, national education statistics exclude private schools and universities. 

This lack of comprehensive data has long frustrated education stakeholders, especially researchers, policymakers, and journalists who rely on accurate statistics for planning and decision-making.

For researchers like Doreen Malisa, who once spent weeks trying to locate dropout data in higher learning institutions, the centralised system offers a breath of fresh air.

“I was working on a project about university dropouts in Tanzania, and I had to physically visit several institutions,” said Ms Malisa, a postgraduate education researcher. “Many didn't have up-to-date data, and some weren’t willing to share at all. It was discouraging.”

A data journalist, Mr Elibariki Peter, echoes a similar experience.

“I once tried to analyse the number of students graduating from specific programmes—engineering, law, and medicine—but there was no reliable, centralised source.

You either had to call each university or rely on outdated ministry reports,” he told The Citizen in an interview.

The centralised system aims to resolve such gaps by integrating data from key government institutions, including the National Identification Authority (NIDA), the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA), the Immigration Department, and the President’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG).

Once operational, the system will be able to produce an Annual Education Statistics Report—comprehensively covering all education levels and institutions, both public and private.

“We want to know which school has the highest dropout rate and why. This platform will help us track such trends from the lowest levels to universities,” Prof Mkenda added.

Homegrown tech for a local challenge

The government has made it clear that the system will be locally developed using Tanzanian ICT professionals, reinforcing a shift away from imported solutions.

“We will continue to learn from others, but we will not copy-paste or duplicate foreign systems. Let’s build our own platforms, tailored to our needs, and save money that can be redirected to other vital education services,” Prof Mkenda stressed. 

HESLB Executive Director Dr Bill Kiwia supported this stance, stating that their entire digital system was developed in-house.

“All of our ICT systems at HESLB are 100 percent locally developed. This ensures ownership, reduces cost, and aligns with the national goal of interoperability across education platforms,” Dr Kiwia said.

He noted that the symposium aimed to discuss how digital systems can improve student services while lowering administrative costs for the government.

“We invited experts from ADAPT IT and other financial and academic institutions to share challenges and opportunities in digital transformation. We want to develop proposals that improve service delivery using technology,” he said.