Non-Formal Education and Quality Basic Education for All in Tanzania: A study of the Effectiveness of Non-Formal Education Programs for Children of School-going Age in Korogwe District

The aim of this study is to investigate whether, amidst its well-known issues and concerns, Non-Formal Education (NFE) can be regarded as an effective policy strategy for achieving quality basic education for all in Tanzania. The purpose was to examine the effectiveness of NFE programs and activities for children of school-going age in ensuring access to quality basic education to out-of-school girls and boys in the country. The study was grounded in the Social Reproduction Theory which can be summarized by the argument that, unless NFE is of good quality, it has a high potential of reproducing inequality of opportunities in the society. Furthermore, the study was also largely influenced by the idea that education of good quality is a human right. It entails a range of important and interrelated elements which can be classified into four main groups, namely inputs, process, context and outcomes. The study employed a mixed method research strategy – meaning that both qualitative and quantitative methods and tools for data collection and analysis were used. A total of 68 participants, including NFE learners, teachers, supervisors and local government officials were engaged in the process of collecting empirical data which was done using document review, questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussion and observations. The findings indicate that NFE programs for children of school-going age in Tanzania are not effective in ensuring quality basic education to out-of-school children and adolescents. Even though the main goal for establishing the programs is to facilitate mainstreaming of their learners to formal primary schools, only a small number of the registered learners get mainstreamed. The majority of the learners either repeat the same course for many years or end up dropping out of it before getting mainstreamed to formal primary schools. Furthermore, there are issues and challenges which significantly affect quality of the teaching and learning process including inadequate teaching and learning resources and dominance of teacher-centred (as opposed to learner-centred) pedagogical approaches. In the same vein, most of the learners involved in this study did not demonstrate good learning outcomes when tested for basic literacy and numeracy skills. In order to address most of the challenges, it is recommended that extra resources be mobilized and specifically allocated for NFE programs and activities, instead of treating them as ‘normal’ educational programs. It is also recommended that there needs to be an effective system for monitoring and evaluating the quality of the NFE programs and activities in the country