26 July 2008

The blogs are starting to get harder and harder to write because there is a lot more thinking and processing of information that goes along with them. For instance, we have visited about three/four different schools and they are all different and every teacher has a different views about what type of education children should be receiving. It also doesn't help that the government has set strict regulations about the education from what classes need to be taken to the size of each classroom. There are specific regulations about the size of the classroom, they need to be a specific length and with with windows and doors positioned a certain area. We have visited private schools funded by organizations from the United States, public schools, schools in the city, and a school out in a small Maasai village. There are some big gaps in the educational system that could be hurting some of the cultures more than helping. For instance, we had a tour guide named Ben who went to primary and secondary school and now has an education and very good English. After graduation he went back to his village where the most important things is finding food, and knowing what plant does what. Every single school and every culture is so different that the educational needs of each individual is unique. The government has created guidelines in order to help the country as a whole, but not always beneficial for each culture or individual. This is what my final research paper is going to be about, the current struggles of the Tanzania educational systems and over the next few months it will start to be narrowed down.