Implementation of the ‘integrated’ practical skill syllabus in relation to the philosophy of education for self-reliance in Tanzania: a study of selected ordinary secondary schools in Iringa Municipality

The study assessed the implementation of the ‘integrated’ practical skill syllabus in relation to the philosophy of education for self-reliance in Tanzania. Specifically, the study identified practical work skills necessary for preparing potentially self-reliant graduates that are integrated in the current ordinary secondary school curriculum in Tanzania, assessed the extent to which such skills are taught and articulated within the school programme; and also assessed whether or not such skills have been mastered and are used (applied) by school leavers wherever they are in the community. The study was conducted in Iringa municipality. Through purposive, simple random, stratified, systematic and snowball sampling techniques 170 respondents were included in the study: 50 school leavers, 100 secondary school students and 20 secondary school teachers. The study deployed a mixed-method research approach using exploratory design, through interviews, questionnaire, observation and document search the required data were collected and analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. The results revealed that there was a variety of productive/practical work skill contents integrated in the current general ordinary secondary education curriculum. The identified contents were from commercial, ICT, agricultural and domestic science (home economics). All contents seemed to be relevant for students to be self- reliant upon graduation. However, coming to the school programmes, relevance was reduced due to absence of resources for productive activities; hence students learnt more in theory than in practical application. Students used the time after school hours only for sports and games especially soccer. As a result their ability to acquire employable skills is limited. It was further revealed that school leavers had limited understanding of the productive/practical activities in relation to secondary education, and only a few managed to acquire some skills during their schooling. They confirmed that they cannot perform those activities on their own. Some of them were found to engage in different activities using skills from different areas, mostly acquired through attending vocational centres after completion of secondary education. Finally, it was observed that school leavers enjoyed lower earnings due to their limited skills and that they cannot secure highly paid jobs; nor could they and they cannot create self-employment activities that fetch higher wages. The study concluded that the general secondary school curriculum does incorporate content from domestic science, commercial, ICT and agricultural categories of productive/practical activities, but, due to the scarcity of resources/facilities students are not exposed much to such activities. As a result, most of them remain unemployed and are unable to create self-employment because of their limited skills, while those engaged in different activities end up with low incomes. Therefore, the relevance and efficiency of the secondary school curriculum has been affected by inadequate resources in most schools. Thus, provision of the required facilities to implement the designed curriculum package is recommended as the first priority to all stakeholders towards realizing education for self-reliance.