Mathew Leloo
Member
- Jul 18, 2022
- 8
- 10
Tanzania has a rich history, culture, and potential, but why does it continue to adopt Western frameworks that frequently fail to meet the country’s complicated tapestry of needs and aspirations? It is time to question the status quo and advocate for a paradigm shift towards local creativity and solutions. Whatever is mentioned in this essay is simply “Tanzania I dream and cry for,” with the hope that it is the one we all want. This is our cry.
I want Tanzania to invest in, sustain, and motivate its human resources. Human capital development is the most crucial determinant of a nation’s long-term success. Tanzania continues to perform poorly in this area when compared to leading developed countries.
To become successful, Tanzania must invest more in increasing the knowledge and efficiency of its workers. Importantly and urgently, we must decapitate or curb the tremendous “brain drain” that has debilitated our continent. We cannot grow as a continent if our brightest men and women are snatched by developed nations. Brain drain is primarily due to Tanzanian governments’ inability and desire to prioritize science, technology, and innovation in their policies.
Our outstanding sons and daughters, not only in science, innovation, and technology but also in sports, are underpaid, underestimated, unappreciated, or honored, and have limited access to government subsidies. As a result, they have no choice but to seek the fabled ‘greener pasture’ elsewhere. Scientists who choose to stay in Tanzania must navigate tortuous and confusing obstacles in order to acquire funding to advance their research ideas. I want Tanzania’s government and corporate sectors to prioritize research and talent development.
I want Tanzanian government to create structures that promote and empower the majority of its youth population to pursue and participate in agriculture as a kind of self-employment. Tanzania currently has a youthful population that prefers white-collar occupations and avoids agriculture, which they regard as “a dirty job." I understand that we are victims not just of physical colonization via centuries of possession of our country but also of a more serious sort, mental colonization.
Although we gained independence from our oppressors, the later form of colonization will take longer to eradicate, especially with leaders who believe the best form of anything comes from western countries, including shoes, clothes, and even medical care. To attract young people to agriculture, we need to develop novel approaches. For example, using technology in agriculture to make it more appealing to adolescents indicates ongoing improvement.
I envision a Tanzania that strongly invests in quality education and research. For decades, education has been promoted as society’s greatest equalizer. A good education empowers an individual and allows them to afford decent healthcare in the future, but without it, everything is gone. Tanzania is currently experiencing a worrisome trend in which education is commercialized. Under this new paradigm, schools with the best teachers and cutting-edge facilities are out of reach for the poor due to excessive costs. As a result, such institutions are reserved for the children of the wealthy in society.
This begins early in the formative years, when public schools are underfunded and understaffed. As a result, the middle class and elites of society choose to send their children to private academies and then to the top secondary schools because they can afford it, regardless of their children’s academic aptitude. As a result, intelligent children from “walala hoi” families become lost in this type of system since their abilities are not spotted and nurtured early enough. Unfortunately, our colleges are replete with sophisticated, flamboyant, and ignorant students pursuing difficult degrees not because they are the best but because their parents are well-fueled.
The majority of them use various unconventional methods to get through the units.They can get whatever they want, including bribing lecturers and swapping sexual favors for grades, until they graduate, at which point they have nothing to offer the profession. Many will soon diversify into other industries since they are unable to deliver in their current line. As a result, the rot in our country’s educational systems must be addressed as soon as possible, and education must be restored to its former status as the greatest equalizer.
Tanzanian universities must establish curricula that are relevant to the continent’s concerns. Furthermore, if history has taught us anything, it is that we are where we are because we steal patterns that do not apply to our situation; if they did, our people would not be crossing international borders to seek asylum or the so-called “good life” in the United States or Europe. Our research institutions must develop drought- and disease-resistant crops and animals that are easy to care for, grow quickly, and produce well. Local ideas and innovations must be pushed and implemented in key sectors such as education, healthcare, and social services, among others.
Furthermore, the Tanzanian government needs to improve financing for researchers. While we press our governments to enhance research funding, universities must also step up their game. I am certain that most of our institutions have yet to scrape the surface of their potential for addressing the difficulties we confront, owing to a failure to recognize that this is their primary duty. A friend once informed me that the emphasis in Tanzanian universities is on lecturing rather than research, and that lecturing is precisely defined as “passive transfer of information from the lecturer’s notes to the student’s notebook with neither of them understanding the information passed." The majority of our graduates lack analytical and critical thinking skills.
In conclusion, I envision a Tanzania that prioritizes partnership and collaboration over rivalry. Tanzania must learn to work and participate in development projects rather than compete (unnecessarily) with one another, which frequently results in ill blood and unneeded tensions. “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together” is an old African proverb. Tanzania must improve border accessibility and reduce business risk. We must continue to ‘pool’ our resources and reorganize them in order to maximize productivity.
I want Tanzania to invest in, sustain, and motivate its human resources. Human capital development is the most crucial determinant of a nation’s long-term success. Tanzania continues to perform poorly in this area when compared to leading developed countries.
To become successful, Tanzania must invest more in increasing the knowledge and efficiency of its workers. Importantly and urgently, we must decapitate or curb the tremendous “brain drain” that has debilitated our continent. We cannot grow as a continent if our brightest men and women are snatched by developed nations. Brain drain is primarily due to Tanzanian governments’ inability and desire to prioritize science, technology, and innovation in their policies.
Our outstanding sons and daughters, not only in science, innovation, and technology but also in sports, are underpaid, underestimated, unappreciated, or honored, and have limited access to government subsidies. As a result, they have no choice but to seek the fabled ‘greener pasture’ elsewhere. Scientists who choose to stay in Tanzania must navigate tortuous and confusing obstacles in order to acquire funding to advance their research ideas. I want Tanzania’s government and corporate sectors to prioritize research and talent development.
I want Tanzanian government to create structures that promote and empower the majority of its youth population to pursue and participate in agriculture as a kind of self-employment. Tanzania currently has a youthful population that prefers white-collar occupations and avoids agriculture, which they regard as “a dirty job." I understand that we are victims not just of physical colonization via centuries of possession of our country but also of a more serious sort, mental colonization.
Although we gained independence from our oppressors, the later form of colonization will take longer to eradicate, especially with leaders who believe the best form of anything comes from western countries, including shoes, clothes, and even medical care. To attract young people to agriculture, we need to develop novel approaches. For example, using technology in agriculture to make it more appealing to adolescents indicates ongoing improvement.
I envision a Tanzania that strongly invests in quality education and research. For decades, education has been promoted as society’s greatest equalizer. A good education empowers an individual and allows them to afford decent healthcare in the future, but without it, everything is gone. Tanzania is currently experiencing a worrisome trend in which education is commercialized. Under this new paradigm, schools with the best teachers and cutting-edge facilities are out of reach for the poor due to excessive costs. As a result, such institutions are reserved for the children of the wealthy in society.
This begins early in the formative years, when public schools are underfunded and understaffed. As a result, the middle class and elites of society choose to send their children to private academies and then to the top secondary schools because they can afford it, regardless of their children’s academic aptitude. As a result, intelligent children from “walala hoi” families become lost in this type of system since their abilities are not spotted and nurtured early enough. Unfortunately, our colleges are replete with sophisticated, flamboyant, and ignorant students pursuing difficult degrees not because they are the best but because their parents are well-fueled.
The majority of them use various unconventional methods to get through the units.They can get whatever they want, including bribing lecturers and swapping sexual favors for grades, until they graduate, at which point they have nothing to offer the profession. Many will soon diversify into other industries since they are unable to deliver in their current line. As a result, the rot in our country’s educational systems must be addressed as soon as possible, and education must be restored to its former status as the greatest equalizer.
Tanzanian universities must establish curricula that are relevant to the continent’s concerns. Furthermore, if history has taught us anything, it is that we are where we are because we steal patterns that do not apply to our situation; if they did, our people would not be crossing international borders to seek asylum or the so-called “good life” in the United States or Europe. Our research institutions must develop drought- and disease-resistant crops and animals that are easy to care for, grow quickly, and produce well. Local ideas and innovations must be pushed and implemented in key sectors such as education, healthcare, and social services, among others.
Furthermore, the Tanzanian government needs to improve financing for researchers. While we press our governments to enhance research funding, universities must also step up their game. I am certain that most of our institutions have yet to scrape the surface of their potential for addressing the difficulties we confront, owing to a failure to recognize that this is their primary duty. A friend once informed me that the emphasis in Tanzanian universities is on lecturing rather than research, and that lecturing is precisely defined as “passive transfer of information from the lecturer’s notes to the student’s notebook with neither of them understanding the information passed." The majority of our graduates lack analytical and critical thinking skills.
In conclusion, I envision a Tanzania that prioritizes partnership and collaboration over rivalry. Tanzania must learn to work and participate in development projects rather than compete (unnecessarily) with one another, which frequently results in ill blood and unneeded tensions. “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together” is an old African proverb. Tanzania must improve border accessibility and reduce business risk. We must continue to ‘pool’ our resources and reorganize them in order to maximize productivity.
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