WHEN you listen to the way some people discuss issues the impression you get is that our education system has not yet produced intended outcomes.

During discussions one can hardly notice critical thinking and intelligent reasoning. Many tend to spend a lot of time on inconsequential issues, instead of addressing critical issues. As a result, critical issues are addressed simplistically.

This is also evident in what is going on in the main opposition political party—Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA). The supporters of two top opposition party leaders, who have announced to vie for the party’s top position, exchange pointed remarks. 

They lean towards derogatory remarks against their leaders, instead of showing what their leaders are going to do to transform their party so that it becomes more vibrant and contributes to improvement of the political landscape in the country.

Some businesspersons, especially those who did not finish their schooling, speak negatively about education, that they are successful not because of education, but because of their hardworking pace. What comes out of this is the impression that education contributes nothing or very little to success in life.  

We live in a rapidly evolving and competitive world, and undermining the role of education in success in life only proves blissful ignorance. There are some countries, which have invested heavily in their education system, and expect high returns in the future. 

In the future labour market some people will be jobless not because there will be no jobs, but because they will not have the skills needed to do new jobs. Although some jobs will be replaced with automation, new other jobs will be created, but these jobs will need new skills and competencies.

Namibia is an African country which spends more on education. In Global Innovation Index 2022 “Namibia leads worldwide in expenditure on education and performs well above the regional (sub-Saharan Africa) average on human capital and research.” It is also ranked first in education expenditure in Global Innovation Index 2023 and Innovation Index 2024.  

Although as a country we have missed out on some of the attainment targets for education, Tanzania Development Vision 2025 “envisages a nation whose people are ingrained with a developmental mind-set and competitive spirit.” 

Furthermore, the Vision provides that “Tanzania would brace itself to attain creativity, innovativeness and a high level of quality education to respond to development challenges and effectively compete regionally and internationally, cognisant of the reality that competitive leadership in the 21st century will hinge on the level and quality of education and knowledge.”

The Vision stresses the importance of quality education that can produce competent people who can cope with the rapidly evolving world of the 21st century. So, a person who undermines what education does so out of blissful ignorance, and not informed judgement. 

Even countries which have excelled in industrial and social development and technological advancement are those which have spent adequately on education.

The Vision further provides that Tanzania “should be a nation whose people have a positive mind-set and a culture which cherishes human development through hard work, professionalism, entrepreneurship, creativity, innovativeness and ingenuity and who have confidence in and high respect for all people irrespective of gender.”

The Vision acknowledges high quality education produces “educated people who are sufficiently equipped with the requisite knowledge to solve society's problems, meet the challenges of development and attain competitiveness at regional and global levels.” 

The attainment of education targets starts with quality early childhood education which provides the foundation for child development and lifelong learning. This is because as studies show “the first five years of children’s lives are crucial to their development. During this period, children learn at a faster rate than at any other time in their lives, developing basic cognitive and socio-emotional skills that are fundamental for their future achievements in school and later on as an adult” (OECD, 2018).

Well-funded education includes having a friendly and enabling teaching and learning environment and grooming teachers who can facilitate learning at all levels of education.

Learners who excel in quality education are likely to excel in life in the sense that they will be able to find solutions to the problems facing them and society. So, transforming education is that which helps learners to find solutions to the problems facing them. 

This is because well-educated people should in the real sense have problem-solving skills. Yet, sometimes we have educated people, but who can hardly offer any solutions to the problems facing them and society. These are the type of people who have been to school, but their education has not transformed them to be relevant to their society.

One of the priority areas of ‘Agenda 63: The Africa We Want’ is education and science, technology and innovation (STI) driven skills revolution. It is projected that by 2063 Africa will be the world’s most populous continent with the largest population of the youth, of which at least 70 percent will be highly skilled. “The continent will have the largest concentration of middle class citizens as a percentage of the population with a significant spending power.”  It is quality education which can lead us to success in life.