TMCnet News

ICT, pedagogical development can reduce poverty in Tanzania [Cihan News Agency (Turkey)]
[October 22, 2014]

ICT, pedagogical development can reduce poverty in Tanzania [Cihan News Agency (Turkey)]


(Cihan News Agency (Turkey) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Swedish government through its agency SIDA sponsors the advanced international training programme on information communication technology (ICT) and pedagogical development to developing countries as part of its bilateral development assistance.



The training aims at strengthening institutions through capacity development using 'Information Communication Technologies Education.' The specific objectives of the training are to support social and economic development through an 'increased integration of ICT in the education systems so as to contribute to poverty reduction.' Swedish government for that matter emphasises usage of Information Technology education as a human right's tool for poor people necessary for eradication of poverty since poverty and lack of education are closely connected.

This phenomenon is identical to Tanzania Vision 2025 policy for education development that targets to build a country with a 'well-educated and learned society' by year 2025 along with National Strategy for Economic growth and Poverty reduction (MKUKUTA).


I had an opportunity to attend the training which was held in Sweden. I admit my concept of application of ICT and education that I had before going to Sweden when compared to what I learned and observed while in Sweden, I realised that my concept of eradication of poverty through ICT was far-fetched.

When talking of ICT and pedagogy in Tanzania, our minds go to generally the usage of audial and visual ICT tools in teaching and learning.

Meaning replacing the subject teacher in the classroom with a visual or audio CD prescribed for teaching and learning. In fact the concept of ICT and pedagogy is being limited to four walls of the classroom between learners and teachers.

It is from this perspective that I felt a need to engage readers in this article so as to reflect and brainstorm on the concept of ICT and pedagogy in Tanzania.

Before we continue we should firstly define the meaning of education since it has many definitions depending on the context of the matter. In this context ICT and education is an all-inclusive matter (social inclusion) meaning the way of educating a society.

At this junction it is important also to define pedagogy as a terminology and its importance in ICT and education. Pedagogy can be defined as a field of study for teaching methods that consist of the aims of education and the ways in which may be achieved.

It relies heavily on educational psychology theories about the way in which learning takes place in the child. Pedagogy is applied mainly to primary and secondary education students.

The terminology ICT refers to forms of technology that are used for communication and to transmit, to store, to create, to share or exchange information. This broad definition of ICT includes technologies such as: radio, television, video, telephone (both fixed line and mobile), computer and network hardware and software; as well as the equipment and services associated with these technologies, such as electronic mail, text messaging and radio broadcasts.

Having defined different terminologies used in the article; we should now try to relate the pedagogical activities in our primary and secondary schools in Tanzania in relation to Swedish ICT and education application.

As a champion in application of ICT and education in the world, all Swedish activities involving ICT are educationally interrelated. The use of ICT in Sweden emanates from home before the child is exposed to the society.

A child at age three starts to write words by using computer as a game at home. The child learns to read by writing defeating the common education psychology theory which believes that "children learn to write by reading".

Once exposed to Swedish society the child sees ICT in application in wider social groupings such as teachers, students, parents, schools, public use of digital social media, in municipalities, communities, higher learning institutions, youth organisations, politicians to name the few. The truth is; ICT and education in Sweden is a way of living.

Tanzania in its part has done a lot in promoting ICT and education with the main goal of building a highly skilled and educated workforce with skills in the application of ICT in everyday life.

Tanzania has well-defined ICT education policies that are in line with the overall aims of education in Tanzania which, according to Education and Training Policy (1995), are among other things: 'to promote the acquisition and appropriate use of literary, social, scientific, vocational, technological, professional and other forms of knowledge, skills and understanding for the development and improvement of man and society.' However, Tanzania is facing challenges in application of ICT education policy. Some of the challenges foreseen in the policy are: inadequate infrastructure including critical supporting infrastructure such as electricity and telecommunications, especially in rural and remote areas; insufficient financial resources to ensure the equitable and sustainable integration of ICT in education at all levels.

When looking at these challenges it sounds inevitable for Tanzania to set out ICT digital opportunities that can be exploited towards meeting the Vision 2025 that highly skilled and educated workforce with skills in the application of ICT. Nevertheless these challenges can make a leeway for opening another window of opportunities for ICT and education solutions.

The question is how? At this point we can draw an example from the Prophet Moses in the Bible during the mission of delivering the Israelites from fierce Pharaoh Regime to Promised Land of Canaan when he showed fear that people would not believe him that his mission is of GOD.

He was simply asked by GOD Almighty what do you have on hand? Exodus Chapter 4 Verse 2-3 ..."And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod…3 And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it…." We as well should ask ourselves "What do we have on hand? The answer is quoted from the study done by ESRF in 2011 "The role of Mobile phones in sustainable livelihood" the study advocates among other things "In Tanzania efforts to eradicate poverty…. using ICT and specifically the Mobile phones, can in many ways do that by; ….

Supporting the documentation of the hybrid knowledge developed from the convergence into explicit knowledge components, which are easy to transmit and store; Facilitating fast, reliable, and affordable means of communication and information exchange …" According to TCRA published statistics Quarter 1 (September 2013) Report), reports that "there were 26.85 million mobile subscribers in Tanzania".

This means that most Tanzanians including teachers own a mobile phone despite their social status as the ESRF study indicates 'This access to mobile phone does not depend absolutely on whether the people are rich or poor.

According to the study conducted by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), even very poor families tend to use their meager resources to buy cell phones and airtime (WRI,IFC: 2007)'.

"What do we have on hand?'' The answer is: "The mobile phones" which can be used by students and teachers as a pedagogical ICT tool to facilitate teaching and learning activities as fast, reliable, and affordable means of communication and information exchange.

Although there are negative aspects reported on the side of students such as telephones diverting attention of students, accessing pornography etc, nonetheless as we deal with any other cyber-crimes so shall we find ways to make mobile phones useful accessories to students for learning.

Due to inadequate ICT infrastructure and insufficient financial resources, Tanzania should think of promoting the use of smart phones in teaching and learning where education materials can be easily accessed through affordable internet facility provided by mobile phones service providers.

In summary, smart mobile phones can make a change in ICT and pedagogical development when used as education tools with the intention of building a country with a well-educated and learned society by year 2025 hence poverty reduction.

(c) 2014 Cihan News Agency. All right reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]