THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
GUIDE FOR VOLUNTEER TEACHERS IN PRE-PRIMARY, PRIMARY, SECONDARY, AND FOLK DEVELOPMENT COLLEGES IN MAINLAND TANZANIA
Prepared by:
Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
Government City Mtumba
Afya Street
P.O. Box 10
40479 Dodoma
June, 2023
FOREWORD
This Guide for Volunteer Teachers was prepared to provide instructions on how to find and hire qualified teachers under a volunteer contract. It also outlines the procedures for orientation, placement, and providing adequate academic and professional instructions to ensure work is done efficiently. The Guide also aims to provide instructions for obtaining volunteer teachers and their services, including stipends, incentives, and discipline management in the workplace. The use of this Guide is expected to strengthen cooperation among education stakeholders, particularly education leadership, the community, teachers, and parents. It will also enable volunteer teachers to provide appropriate learning and teaching services in line with national education requirements. This is intended to solve learning and teaching challenges and bring about positive results in pre-primary, primary, secondary, and folk development colleges in Tanzania.
INTRODUCTION
For a long time, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania, through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (WyEST) and the President's Office - Regional Administration and Local Government (OR-TAMISEMI), has been focused on finding ways to ensure that our schools and colleges have enough teachers, infrastructure, and adequate learning and teaching materials. The implementation of these duties has been carried out through various strategic plans to improve and strengthen education in the country, such as MMEM (2001), MEMKWA (2003), MMES (2004), and Free Education (2016). These strategies encouraged an increase in student enrollment in schools and colleges, leading to a significant increase in the need for teachers. Despite various government efforts, there is still a need to use graduates who have not yet been employed to improve their academic and professional skills while they wait for employment by the government or private institutions. This will help these volunteer teachers to teach various subjects and assist with learning and teaching in schools.
BACKGROUND
Recognizing the importance of providing quality education, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania decided to implement the International Declaration on Education for All 2000 (EFA, 2000). The Government, in collaboration with education development stakeholders, also prepared and implemented a five-year Education Sector Development Plan (ESDP) for 2016/2017 to 2020/2021, which focused on improving access to education for all children and providing teacher training. This plan included strengthening teaching and learning, building the capacity of teachers, measuring learning outcomes, and using an enabling environment with materials and methods that make the student the center of learning.
In 2014, the government issued an Education and Training Policy that aimed to implement, among other things, the declaration of Free Education for pre-primary, primary, and secondary levels. This policy's implementation led to an increase in student enrollment in primary and secondary schools and folk development colleges, which meant that the number of employed teachers was insufficient to meet the needs. One of the strategies to address this is to hire volunteer teachers with the right qualifications for schools or colleges that have a need, under a six-month contract. Therefore, this Guide was prepared to provide instructions on how to obtain and contractually hire Volunteer Teachers.
OBJECTIVES OF THE GUIDE
The main objective of this Guide is to strengthen the system for employment and appropriate services for volunteer teachers who teach under contract at the pre-primary, primary, secondary, and folk development college levels in the country.
Specific Objectives:
- To make volunteering a specific contractual job under this Guide.
- To increase the number of qualified teachers in schools.
- To supervise the implementation of duties at every level involved in the management of volunteer teachers.
- To improve the quality of the teaching and learning contract in schools and folk development colleges.
- To ensure that the procedures and work ethics are in line with using the services of volunteer teachers.
IMPORTANCE OF THE GUIDE
The government, through WyEST and OR-TAMISEMI, has emphasized that schools have alternative plans to find teachers to fill the shortage. In consideration of the importance of reducing the teacher shortage, the government has prepared this Guide for Volunteer Teachers.
SCOPE OF THE GUIDE
This Guide provides specific instructions for the employment and management of volunteer teachers who teach in pre-primary, primary, secondary, and folk development colleges.
STRUCTURE OF THE GUIDE
The Guide is divided into four main sections. They are the introduction, background, objectives, and scope of the Guide. The second section describes how to get volunteer teachers, contracts, placement, and incentives. The third section describes the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders, while the fourth section covers monitoring and evaluation.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
- Employment: The job of a volunteer teacher according to an agreement entered between the employer and the volunteer teacher, in compliance with this Guide.
- Contract: A written agreement for volunteer teaching between the employer and the volunteer teacher for a period specified in the agreement.
- Teacher: A person with the education and expertise to teach in a pre-primary, primary, or secondary school, or a Folk Development College.
- Employer: The School Committee/School Board or the Board of a Folk Development College that enters into an employment agreement with a volunteer teacher.
- Volunteer Teacher: A teacher who has entered into a contract with an employer to volunteer to teach in pre-primary, primary, and secondary education, and Folk Development Colleges.
- Disciplinary Offenses: Actions that are contrary to community morals. In education, these are actions contrary to the rules of teaching ethics in Public Service.
- Incentive: A thing, money, better working conditions, or any legal action that can be done or given to a volunteer teacher to boost their morale for the work they have done.
- Stipend: A monthly payment paid to a volunteer teacher for the work they have done in accordance with this Guide.
- Resources: In this context, these are enabling environments that include money or anything that will help a volunteer teacher do their work effectively.
- Ethics: Accepted norms of behavior, conduct, and beliefs in a particular community. In the education sector, the relevant ethics are outlined in the rules of teaching ethics and Public Service.
- Taboos: Things that a person is not supposed to do according to laws, rules, procedures, and guidelines issued by the government.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology extends its thanks to all who participated in preparing and writing this Guide. Special thanks are given to teachers, parents/guardians, and chairpersons of School Committees/Boards, as well as education supervisors at the ward, council, and regional levels. Thanks are also given to the President's Office - Regional Administration and Local Government (OR-TAMISEMI), the Ministry of Health, and the President's Office - Public Service Management and Good Governance for their collaboration. Furthermore, thanks are given to the President's Office - Teachers' Service Commission and the Tanzania Institute of Education for their participation in the completion of this Guide. Special thanks are extended to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for providing an expert consultant and funding that facilitated the writing process. Finally, sincere thanks go to the officers of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOESTEST) and OR-TAMISEMI who participated in preparing and writing this Guide from the initial stages to its completion.