A survey conducted in 2010 by Uwazi at Twaweza and Datavision, with 429 randomly selected households in Dar es Salaam, revealed that parents know little about education policies and practice. Results have been published in the brief ‘What does Dar make of education? Parents’ knowledge, opinions and actions in Dar es Salaam’ including the finding that 97 percent of respondents did not know the capitation grant amount that the government is to provide for each student in school. Nearly 40 percent were uninformed about teachers’ absence or presence in school and less than 20 percent knew the pass rate of the Primary School Leaving Examination at the school their children attend.
Nearly half of respondents reported attending a school committee meeting in the previous year. Despite the challenges plaguing the education system in Tanzania, 44 percent of parents said they were happy with the education offered in primary schools.
‘Parents who lack information about essential schooling inputs are not likely to demand or be able to effectively contribute to better teaching and better school conditions for the children, even when they attend school committee meetings,’ the brief says. ‘If parental involvement is crucial to improving children’s learning, improving the quality of public information and public debate may be a good place to start.’
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