Form 4 results: Why is mathematics a problem in Tanzania?

Let’s begin our discussion by examining the outstanding performance of Ilboru Secondary School, where all 131 candidates achieved Division One. While attaining Division One is not unusual for schools like Ilboru, the noteworthy aspect here is that this marks the first instance where every student secured Division One. This is a significant development, emphasising the importance of maintaining high academic standards. It is unacceptable to take A-students and downgrade them to C-students.

What the Ilborians have done is the stuff of legends: an impressive 99 students scoring seven points, likely setting a national record. In comparison, in the past, schools like Ilboru or Mzumbe would produce only three or four students with seven points. They were considered geniuses while it was, sadly, a scathing indictment of our education system. Ilboru’s exceptional performance this year puts an end to the longstanding debate about the best public school, confirming what some of us have always known. 

The teaching staff of Ilboru deserve the highest praise. We know that our youngsters are very capable – but individual effort can only take you so far. Ilboru’s ascent to such heights underscores the pivotal role played by dedicated teachers. Therefore, it is recommended that the government acknowledges and rewards this feat by offering various incentives, such as constructing houses for all teachers, enhancing school facilities, and providing monetary rewards. In short, make Ilboru a model of what a special school should be like in Tanzania.

Yes, we can.

Beyond Ilboru, the sombre story of Tanzania’s disastrous maths results took centre stage again. For over 20 years, form four candidates have scored the lowest in maths compared to other subjects at national exams every year. And true to character, a whopping 75 percent of 527,000 candidates got a Fail grade. In a WhatsApp group of engineers, people echoed the sentiment that maths is a national catastrophe. They suggested that I write an article on this subject.

I had to comply.

Why do Tanzanians suck at maths?

When I was in high school, armed with my own maths whiz experience, I attempted to fast-track some struggling Form Four students. Drills, speed, the whole shebang. Big mistake. They lacked the basics, and two weeks in, I realised it was a lost cause. I had to take them back to Form One and Two topics. Unfortunately, it was too late for them.

Fast forward a few years, a family member, then a Form Four student, was also drowning in math. Remembering my failed rescue mission, I told her to drop maths. I advised her to focus on where she had a chance. She listened. Her grades soared, and today, she’s a thriving professional, proving her worth in fields far from maths equations. Her future could have been compromised had she insisted on tackling the subject she was ill-prepared to deal with.

Maths is a very logical subject where each concept forms a rung on the ladder to mastery. If you build on those concepts, you can discover the joy of maths in its simplicity and purity. But if you miss a rung, maths is ruthlessly unforgiving, making climbing further impossible. Redemption means rebuilding, brick by logical brick, starting from the shaky foundations below.

Maths is science in its purest form. Maths leaves no room for negotiations. Either you get it, or you don’t. That is in contradiction with the way we live our lives in Tanzania where everything is negotiable. With math, if you don’t have rock-solid primary school arithmetic, later concepts like exponents and trigonometry become insurmountable walls. If you don’t get exponents, logarithms, and trigonometry, you are done.

We suck at maths for the same reasons we suck at all other subjects: poor education. We can bullshit with inadequate instruction in history, civics, or geography, but maths leaves no room for such nonsense. What we have is an education catastrophe, not a maths catastrophe. To succeed, students need proper instructions at all levels.

That’s an impossible requirement in Tanzania.

Our education system has many issues, but schools such as Ilboru show that excellence is attainable. Some soar to new heights, and some get 8, 9, 10 points or so. While I hope that the first batch will go to the Harvard, MIT, and Oxford of this world, the second batch can be channelled to vocations which are more their speed, like becoming toll takers in some of our bridges, riding bodaboda, kupiga debe, and stuff.