OED 627: POLICY ANALYSIS, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION

By

Jackson Joseph

MED APPS, Open University Tanzania

Assignment 3 Submitted April, 2021

Introduction

Policy implementation is generally defined as a series of activities undertaken by

government and others to achieve the goals and objectives articulated in policy statements. For
the purpose of this paper, policy implementation is taken to mean the process of translating the
goals and objectives of a policy into an action. Policy implementation is the third stage of policy
cycle. This means the stage of the policy process immediately after the passage of a law, or the
action that will be taken to put the law into effect or that the problem will be solved.
Implementation means administration of the law in which various actors, organization,
procedures, and techniques work together to put adopted policies into effect in an effort to attain
policy or program goals

Policy implementation involves two approaches which are top-down and bottom-up. The
approaches are utilized depending on the nature of the policy and the task environment in which
the policy is being implemented. In general, top-down implementation is the carrying out of a
policy decision by statute, executive order, or court decision; whereas the authoritative decisions
are centrally located by actors who seek to produce the desired effects. The top-down
implementation approach is a clear cut system of command and control from the government to
the project, which concerns the people. The top down system showcases basing on clear and
consistent goals articulated at the top of the hierarchical environment, knowledge of pertinent
cause and effects, clear hierarchy of authority, rules established at the top and policy is aligned
with the rules, resources or capacity to carry out the commands from the top . The top-down
approach is the rational comprehensive approach to planning. It is consistent with overhead
democracy, whereas elected officials delegate implementation authority to non-elected public
servants (civil service) who are accountable to the democratically elected officials.

1
The bottom-up implementation approach initiates with the target groups and service deliverers,
because they find that the target groups are the actual implementors of policy. Bottom-up
designers begin their implementation strategy formation with the target groups and service
deliverers, because they find that the target groups are the actual implementors of policy.
Moreover, bottom-uppers contend that if local bureaucrats (implementors) are not allowed
discretion in the implementation process with respect to local conditions, then the policy will
“likely fail”. Accordingly, goals, strategies, and activities must be deployed with special
attention to the people the policy will directly impact. Thus, evaluation based upon the street
level bureaucrat would be the best practice.

The paper is structured in 4 sections. The section that follows after this introduction deals
with strength and weaknesses of policy implementation styles as distinguished from
institutionalized voluntarism, regulatory corporatism, directed subsidization, and public
provision with oversight style. The paper then examines the challenges to implementation of an
education policy in Tanzania society. A brief conclusion closes the discussion.

Institutionalized Voluntarism

This is the implementation style of choice when the policy targets constitute a large group
and state constraints are high. It corresponds to an exhortation based manipulation of market
actors and the institutionalization of networks. For example, in 1985, the Chemistry Industry
Association of Canada launched the Responsible Care Initiative, which is a complementary
scheme to regulation to facilitate the self-control of the industry and to increase public and
political trust in its activities. One of the most common goals of volunteerism laws and policies
is to mobilize citizens to support social, economic, and political development through their own
initiatives and organizations, that is to say without government channeling into specific priority
areas. Many countries utilize volunteerism law and policy to help solve economic problems and
promote economic development.

Strength of Institutionalized Voluntarism

Supporting government priority areas. In contrast to the general mobilization of citizens

to support development, some countries choose to use volunteer initiatives to address specific
government policymaking priorities. For example, Burkina Faso’s Law 31 of 2007 created a

2
National Volunteerism System that was explicitly intended to reduce unemployment by creating
a mechanism for professional training. Similarly, South Africa’s National Guidelines on Home-
Based Care and Community-Based Care (2001) considers volunteerism as part of a national
effort to alleviate severe burdens on the formal health care sector stemming from the HIV/AIDS
pandemic and the rapid aging of the population. The policy established incentives for volunteers
responding to community and family health care needs, thereby helping to channel volunteer
efforts into the health care sector.

Promoting national citizenship and civic engagement. Some governments turn to

volunteerism law and policy to foster a sense of civic engagement and national citizenship. For
example, the United Arab Emirates created Takatof, a volunteer program run by the government
affiliated Emirates Foundation, to connect young Emiratis to volunteerism opportunities, raise
the profile of volunteerism in the UAE, and promote and foster a sense of citizenship and
national solidarity. Because a primary goal is the promotion of a concept of national citizenship,
Takatof tends to focus primarily on young Emirati citizens as both volunteers and beneficiaries
of its programs. Similarly, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has
since 2006 been developing policies to support a volunteer scheme known as the “ECOWAS
Youth Ambassadors for Peace,” in which citizens in five post-conflict countries (Cote d’Ivoire,
Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Togo) participate in volunteerism programs to
promote national reconciliation and citizenship. Finally, the UN Volunteers or UN Development
Program joint initiative “Regional Integration through Volunteer Exchanges for Reconciliation
of South Eastern Europe” (RIVER SEE) is designed “to contribute to regional integration, social
cohesion and poverty reduction in the Balkans through East-to-East volunteer exchanges,
promotion of volunteerism and proactive citizenship, upgrading of the capacity of CSOs to deal
with local development and governance processes, and establishment of regional cooperation in
civil initiatives.”

Mobilizing citizens to achieve development goals. Volunteerism laws and policies

mobilizes citizens to support social, economic, and political development through their own
initiatives and organizations, that is without government channeling into specific priority areas.
Many countries utilize volunteerism law and policy to help solve economic problems and
promote economic development. These types of volunteer initiatives will likely proliferate in the

3
wake of the current global economic crisis. For example, in February 2009 the United Kingdom
announced that it would be directing more than £42 million toward CSOs meeting the needs of
individuals harmed by the ongoing worldwide economic crisis in order to promote volunteerism
among the unemployed

Weakness of Institutionalized Voluntarism

Lack of a culture of volunteerism. Where a culture of volunteerism exists and flourishes,

volunteerism law and policy initiatives can find rapid success as they are taken up by pre-
existing volunteer constituencies. By contrast, where volunteerism is poorly understood or not
embraced by the population, volunteerism laws and policies may fail to be implemented properly
or may be ignored altogether. For example, in former Soviet states with a history of “mandatory”
volunteerism in support of state priorities, volunteerism initiatives, no matter how worthy, have
been hampered by negative public attitudes. In other contexts, such as the rural parts of many
countries in the Arab world and Pacific Islands, assisting the elderly or disadvantaged may be
seen as a religious or social obligation rather than a separate activity known as volunteerism,
making it difficult for the government to expand and promote volunteerism outside of the family
or village unit without first making efforts to connect to and build upon existing cultural
practices. In all of these cases, the lack of a culture of volunteerism or confusion about the
interaction between traditional practices and formal, organization-based volunteerism can be an
enormous obstacle to the success of any volunteerism law or policy.

Lack of intermediary support organizations. Another common obstacle to fulfillment of

volunteerism laws or policies is a lack of intermediary support organizations. Successful
volunteerism initiatives require participation by and active partnerships between government,
civil society, and the private sector. Governments may be responsible for setting policy or
passing laws, but it is individual volunteers and volunteer-utilizing organizations within civil
society who will carry out the laws or policies.

In order to promote partnerships among government, civil society, and the private sector to
support good implementation of volunteerism initiatives, an increasing number of countries
around the world have created national task forces or committees on volunteering comprised of
government, civil society, and private sector representatives; still others have turned to national

4
or local volunteer centers that bring volunteers, volunteer involving organizations, and
government officials under one roof. Indeed, the creation of national volunteer centers has been
one of the most common steps taken to promote volunteerism around the world, with dozens of
countries including Australia, Argentina, Barbados,Brazil, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, El Salvador,
Lebanon, Luxembourg,Madagascar, Peru, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates,and
Zambia all establishing volunteer centers since 2001.

Legal obstacles to volunteerism. One of the most common obstacles to volunteerism is a

country’s existing laws. Policymakers should review a variety of existing laws to determine
whether they unintentionally create obstacles or unnecessary burdens to volunteerism. As the
discussion below demonstrates, in many cases the most important laws affecting volunteerism
are not found in freestanding “volunteer” laws but rather in the provisions of labor codes, tax and
social insurance laws, immigration rules, civil liability laws, and workplace safety and health
rules. It is therefore essential that these existing laws be subject to a thorough review by
policymakers interested in promoting volunteerism.

Immigration Laws, International volunteerism can make a major contribution to domestic

development, but in many countries immigration laws present obstacles to the entrance of
foreign volunteers. Simplification of the immigration and visa regime may accrue substantial
benefits for the host country. For example, the Philippines’ Act No. 9418 on Strengthening
Volunteerism (2007) stipulates that foreign volunteers (as well as their dependants) entering the
Philippines to work on approved projects are entitled to multiple entry visas and are exempted
from visa and immigration fees. Similarly, South Africa amended the Immigration Act in 2004 to
make it easier for international volunteers to obtain visas.

Similarly, if there is no legal distinction between volunteers and employees, unemployed persons
may refuse to volunteer for fear that their participation in volunteer work would cause them to
lose their unemployment benefits. This was the case until quite recently in the Czech Republic.
Other side effects of strict labor codes that do not differentiate between volunteerism and other
work include inadvertent prohibitions on informal volunteerism (as was the case in Croatia and
Macedonia because their labor codes required written, signed employment agreements for all
work) and bans on reimbursement of volunteer expenses (as in Latvia, where any reimbursement

5
of volunteers would have subjected CSOs to minimum wage rules and cause volunteers to be
treated as paid employees).

Regulatory corporatism

This is also called corporatism is the theory and practice of organizing society into
“corporations” subordinate to the state. According to corporatist theory, workers and employers
would be organized into industrial and professional corporations serving as organs of political
representation and controlling to a large extent the persons and activities within their jurisdiction.

In the last half of the 19th century people of the working class in Europe were beginning to show
interest in the ideas of socialism and syndicalism. Some members of the intelligentsia,
particularly the Catholic intelligentsia, decided to formulate an alternative to socialism which
would emphasize social justice without the radical solution of the abolition of private property.
The result was called Corporatism. The name had nothing to do with the notion of a business
corporation except that both words are derived from the Latin word for body, corpus.

The basic idea of corporatism is that the society and economy of a country should be organized
into major interest groups (sometimes called corporations) and representatives of those interest
groups settle any problems through negotiation and joint agreement. In contrast to a market
economy this operates through competition a corporate economic works through collective
bargaining.

The objective of regulatory policy is to ensure that regulations are in the public interest. It
addresses the permanent need to ensure that regulations and regulatory frameworks are justified,
of good quality and fit for purpose. As an integral part of effective public governance, regulatory
policy helps to shape the relationship between the state, citizens and businesses. An effective
regulatory policy supports economic development as well as the rule of law, helping policy
makers to reach informed decisions about what to regulate, whom to regulate, and how to
regulate. It has a social as well as an economic dimension. Evaluation of regulatory outcomes
informs policy makers of successes, failures and the need for change or adjustment to regulation
so that it continues to offer effective support for public policy goals.

6
Strength of regulatory corporatism

Promoting better working conditions. One important advantage of regulations is that they
can lead to better working conditions for employees. In many countries, there are strict
regulations in place that determine how many hours an employee is allowed to work at the
maximum. Moreover, there are also plenty of regulations in place that aim to protect workers
from dangers or unhealthy work environments.

As a case, in countries with strict regulatory practices, chances are that the working conditions of
employees are much better compared to countries where such regulations do not exist, since
people are often exploited in those countries with lax regulatory standards.

Assurance of minimum qualification levels. For certain professions, it is crucial that

experts in those fields have a high level of qualification. For instance, doctors need high
qualification levels in order to be able to treat patients properly and to minimize mistakes that
could potentially lead to the deaths of people. Thus, for some jobs, especially for professions
which could do serious harm to people, it is crucial that there are strict regulations in place that
prevent people with low qualification levels to enter and practice in those markets.

Market-creating and market-growing role illustrated by the GSM standard (Group Special
Mobile committee). When there are competing technological approaches, such as the famous
contest in the 1970s between the Betamax and VHS standards for videotape, consumers are
better served if these contests between similar standards are settled promptly and decisively, to
preclude the risk of spending money on a losing technology. When the standard is set by
regulation in a large market like the EU, the United States, or China, economies of scale kick in
quickly. The virtuous circle of falling prices, quality improvements, and growing demand is
thereby established.

Regulation can also benefit an economy by enabling competition. This seems counter-
intuitive, and indeed some forms of regulation serve to enable rent-seeking behavior. Businesses
in oligopolistic sectors often complain about the burden of compliance; but they clearly rely on
regulation as a barrier to market entry by new competitors. The cost of their regulatory burden is
a fee they pay for market power.

7
The regulation of some of these sectors, like finance, is an example of what not to do. Officials
imagine that consumer protection requires another regulation whenever something goes wrong,
resulting in thickets of rules that protect incumbents and lead to all kinds of unintended
consequences and complexities. As the new regulations prove ineffective (not surprising, given
the overabundance of scams and mis-selling in finance), a vicious circle is set in motion, with
additional regulation resulting in further failure and more regulation.

That is why smart regulators charged with ensuring healthy competition, like the UK’s Financial
Conduct Authority, use a sandbox approach to enable testing of new technologies and business
models without a crushing burden of regulation. The FCA is proposing to make its regulatory
sandbox method global.

Regulation is good for an economy precisely in its protection of consumers. If this means
businesses earn a lower short-term profit, so be it. A society’s welfare is not identical with the
profitability of its businesses, or with the growth rate of Gross Domestic Product. In the
Confideration of British Industry’s conversations about post-Befit regulation, the sectors most
interested in regulatory divergence were waste and environmental services and water. Tough
European Union environmental standards impose high costs on these businesses, which might
mean they grow more slowly than they otherwise would. But it is well known that Gross
Domestic Product growth does not account for environmental externalities.

Weakness of regulatory corporatism implementation style

Regulatory corporatism can be time-consuming. Although regulations are important as

seen before, there are also some problems implied by regulatory frameworks. One downside of
regulations is that compliance with those rules can be quite time-consuming. For example, every
time a new regulation is introduced, companies in the respective industry have to adjust their
production or distribution. Depending on the regulatory action, this can be quite time-consuming
in some cases, especially if whole production chains are affected.

Regulation can be costly as all sorts of regulation imply a certain level of costs.
Regulations increase the costs for companies since they have to assure compliance with those
regulatory standards. Regulatory standards increase the costs for the government since
authorities have to implement proper control mechanisms. Finally, the implementation of

8
regulations also implies certain welfare costs, since free market forces will not be able to work
properly anymore.

Flawed regulations may do more harm than good. In order to assure positive overall
effects of regulations, it is crucial that those regulations are designed in a thoughtful manner.
However, many regulations are introduced by people who actually do not know what they are
doing and the outcomes are often pretty poor. Thus, in many cases, regulations may even do
more harm than good, especially if they are introduced by people with insufficient knowledge in
a certain field. High levels of regulations may hurt competitiveness of a country

If there is are strict regulations in place in one country while there are only lax
regulations in other countries, chances are that companies in countries with strict regulations may
not be able to stay competitive in the long run since the development of products and the
approval processes may take quite long while it may be quite easy to develop and get
permissions to sell products in countries with lax regulatory standards. Thus, if regulatory
standards are quite different across countries, too strict regulatory standards may vastly hurt
companies due to the fierce global competition.

Directed subsidization

This is implementation policy style expected to be chosen when governmental actors face
low constraints and interact with large groups of policy targets. Directed subsidization refers to
the extensive ose of financial instruments to steer the behavior of market actors, coupled with the
use of authority to preferentially recognize networks of actors. For example, the German
government decided several years ago to promote the transition to a bio-based economy, which it
supports by means of subsidies for the industries concerned as well as investing heavily into
research activities that could potentially support this process.

This policy is more common in the developing countries where there are large numbers of
workers whose incomes are low. Given free market prices for basic goods, many of the urban
poor may not be able to afford basic goods like bread, cooking oil, and sugar. The government
therefore adopts a price control to keep prices low enough so the low income consumers can
afford those goods. The effect of price control is a shortage. The government may also provide a

9
subsidy to the producer in order to increase the quantity of this good available to consumers at
low price

Strength of Directed Subsidization

Lowering prices and controlling inflation. They are especially applicable in the area of
production cost inputs such as fuel prices, particularly when global crude oil prices are rising.
Many countries subsidize fuel costs in order to keep prices from ballooning.

Preventing the long-term decline of industries. There are many industries that should be
kept alive and functional, such as fishing and farming because they are essential to support a
population. Many new and fast-growing industries may also benefit from being subsidized.

A greater supply of goods. Governments want to increase the access of their population
to Goods & Services such as Water, Food, and Education. They, therefore, provide an incentive
that could be in the form of a tax credit or even straight up cash. Markets that have positive
externalities are usually the ones that receive such benefits.

Weakness of Directed Subsidization

Shortage of supply, though one of the advantages of subsidies is the greater supply of
goods, a shortage of supply can also occur. This is because lowered prices can lead to a sudden
rise in demand that many producers may find very hard to meet. Ultimately, it can lead to very
high demand that causes an increase in prices.

Difficulty in measuring success Subsidies are usually effective and helpful. However, if
the government were to make a report of its success in using subsidies, it would be a different
story. This is because it is hard to quantify the success of subsidies.

Higher taxes, the government raise funds to use for subsidizing industries through
imposing higher taxes. So, it is the general population and corporations who provide the means
to enable the government to subsidize industries.

10
Public provision with oversight

This is the implementation style chosen when the number of policy addressees is small
and so are the constraints on the state. Public provision with oversight corresponds to a
mobilization model, where governmental organizations use resources to provide goods and
services to small groups of policy targets. The state based provision of internet in Estonia can be
regarded as a case in point for this implementation style.

Public policy implementation refers to the exercising of a specific policy decision as

directed by the law, court, or any administrator’s prescriptions. It takes two paradigms, bottom-
up and top-down. The bottom-up approach is initiated by singling out the chain of people who
take part in offering any service to each or all local areas by interviewing them on their
ambitions, schemes, actions, and contacts. The bottom-up approach holds that public policy
implementation process is inseparable from the formulation phase. The roles of administrators
and politicians are also considered as critical in the success of the formulation and
implementation of the policies from the paradigms of the bottom-up approach.

Contacts are then deployed to develop various networks aimed at aiding in the identification of
national actors, local, and even regional actors who are crucial for financing, planning, and
execution of various necessary nongovernmental and or governmental programs.

Strength of Public Provision with oversight

Public policy is created by governments in consideration of the public interest and is

based on processes that involve both political patterns and social participation. There are
different entities that are involved in one way or the other in the process of public policy
formulation and implementation through the influence they impose on the process. The public is
involved, either directly or indirectly, in making decisions that address issues that affect the
society.

Basing on public policy, the government is responsible for the provision of security
towards the lives, properties and liberties of citizens by safeguarding them from both internal and
external threats. This may be achieved through the implementation of national defense, foreign
and crime policy which in one way or another aims at establishing order and protecting the

11
citizens from each other or from foreigners through prevention of crime and punishment of
offenders or criminals.

In public policy the government is also responsible for the act of helping its citizens to
meet their needs especially in some areas that are deemed important for the growth and
development of citizens’ welfare. One of the key areas where the government is responsible for
meeting the needs of its people is in the education sector where it supposed to facilitate the
education process.

Weakness of Public Provision with oversight

Funding scarcity for policy research. Much of policy is determined and implemented on
the fly with little research or analysis brought to bear. Typically, public hearings are conducted,
at which experts often grounded in the status quo are invited to testify on aspects of the problem
being addressed. Interest groups often control the information and the expertise, providing a
biased presentation. While the size and capacity of government staff in legislatures and
administrative agencies has burgeoned, staff is not immune to bias nor have all the answers and
is subject to lobbying and selection bias in information sources. In addition to the expense of
policy research, such activities may take a long time while there is pressure to act in a hurry.

Limits to the capabilities of government: All manner of reform may not achieve a
consensus around solving such intractable problems as poverty, lack of educational achievement,
how to guard against all conceivable terrorist tactics and among many other problems. Physical,
social, and economic factors may simply exceed the capacity of our government to adequately
address some kind of problems.

Challenges to implementation of education policy in Tanzania society

Tanzania recorded very impressive expansion education policies and reforms during the
late 1960s and the early 1970s. These policies and reforms are influenced in some aspects more
than others by international agendas. It is, however, noted that the origin of educational policies
and reforms can be traced as far back to the1948 during the General Assembly of the United
Nations. In December 10, 1948, The General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and
proclaimed the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Following this act, the assembly called

12
upon all member countries to publicize the text of the declaration and disseminated it in schools
and other institutions. The article 26 of the declaration stipulates that, everyone has the right to
education, and education should be free and compulsory at least in the elementary and
fundamental stage.

In response to this declaration, Act No 15 of 1985 of the constitution of Tanzania

stipulates that, every person has the right to access education and every citizen regardless the
sex, ethnicity and religious status shall be free to pursue education and technique in his or her
choice to his or her merit and ability (URT, 1998). This has also clearly articulated and
integrated into the most comprehensive Tanzania Education and Training Policy that basic
education shall be the right of every individual regardless to its status. In Tanzania it is, thus, a
criminal offence for any parent or guardian to prohibit the child from participating to primary
(basic) education.

Education policy in Tanzania is also implemented in response to meet the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs). Millennium Development Goals aimed at achieving Universal
Primary Education by 2015; Promote gender equality and empower women by eliminating
gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and in all levels of
education not later than 2015. The Millennium Development Goals have eight goals to be
achieved by 2015 which respond to the main development challenges. Among these goals is to
achieve Universal Primary Education. The Zanzibar education policy of 2006 for example was
developed in response to the Millennium Development Goals (URT, 2009). Efforts have been
carried out to improve the access and the quality of education in Tanzania mainland by
revamping the primary and secondary education to meet the MDGs. The Primary Education
Development Plan (PEDP) and Secondary Education Development Plan (SEDP) have led to
significant improvement in the provision of basic education in the country from 2002 to date.
The two plans are set in order to accomplish the Universal Primary Education and secondary
education respectively.

The following are challenges encountered in implementation of education policy in

Tanzania ranging from Education for Self Reliance, Education and Training Policy as well as
achievement of work oriented as seen below;

13
 Resource-based issue, the problems relating to an inadequate amount of resources are to a
large degree generalizable across all of the sectors in Tanzania, not just education, this issue is
particularly critical when considering the implementation of practical education policies. Both
Education for Self Reliance and Education and Training Policy’s work-oriented programs rely
upon very specific training and fairly expensive and updated equipment to ensure the success of
their work-oriented programs. A critical lack of financial and equipment resources have plagued
the implementation process of both policies. The rural-based “Self-Reliance projects” and other
vocational activities suffered severely from a “lack of suitable teaching and learning materials,
old and inappropriate equipment and inappropriate technology. The government’s strong
enthusiasm and dedication to the philosophy of self-reliance and the ESR policy was never “able
to match policy intentions with a commitment of resources” which in turn led to an inability to
achieve policy objectives. These financial challenges have been continued with the ETP policy.
A 2008 review of the ETP policy objectives and achievement consistently and repetitively lists
lack of facilities, lack of appropriate human resources, lack of finance, and low financing for
practicals as reasons for the shortfalls in implementation of ICT and other science and
technology policy objectives.

Inadequate Teacher Training, rural-oriented vocational education in the Education for

Self Reliance policy was continuously struggling with a teacher workforce that was inadequately
trained or prepared to teach the vocational subjects or skills of Education Self Reliance. As a
result, the lack of proper preparation of teachers for specialized subjects completely undermined
the use of scientific knowledge and skills in most school projects, as well as hindered the overall
integration of practical education into the broader curriculum. Furthermore, many teachers were
either apathetic toward or outright opposed to the fundamental philosophies of Education for Self
Reliance, another shortcoming of teacher training that severely impaired the effectives of rural-
oriented vocational education. Similarly, current ICT education in suffers from a lack of
appropriately trained or capable ICT personnel, particularly in rural areas. This is related to
broader problems of teacher quality in Tanzania, but it is particularly critical to ICT education,
which requires even more specialized training and teaching methods in order to be effectively
taught as a subject.

14
 Attitude Barriers, negative attitudes toward Education for Self Reliance and particularly
its rural-oriented vocational education initiatives were widespread and only increased with time.
Initial resistance to Education for Self Reliance stemmed from the association of vocational
education and training for agricultural and manual occupations with colonial education policies.
As these policies contained inbuilt mechanisms of inequality and oppression for native
Tanzanians, vocational education was considered to be inferior, and popular demand after
independence was for general access to a western academic education. This was related to
pervasive societal concepts about what constituted valid knowledge and valid schooling based
upon the western model of education. The aversion to vocational, particularly agricultural,
education was only strengthened in light of the implementation failures and lack of achievement
of the Education for Self Reliance policy. Citizens became increasingly suspicious of
government intentions and increasing gaps of inequality, and most teachers, parents, and students
resented and opposed Education for Self Reliance policies.

Problems with policy curriculum and implementation. The Education for Self Reliance
policy’s implementation of rural-oriented vocational education was inundated by issues of
suitability and clarity of policy curriculum and implementation. At a most basic level, Education
for Self Reliance curricula was not based on adequate needs assessment and hence they failed to
capture the realities of life in the community. Additionally, the curricula often went directly
against the policy objectives and intentions.

As a result of the inadequacy of the ESR policy curricula, the education that students received
did not successfully prepare them for the world of work. The vocational skills that were taught to
students were often not employable or desirable for a variety of different reasons, but mainly
because they were not generalizable to the relevant workforce or world of work A second issue
with policy curriculum and implementation was the lack of clarity and clear directives with
which the policies were formed and implemented. The Education for Self Reliance policy
implementation suffered from a widespread confusion and misunderstanding surrounding even
basic definitions and goals of the policy. The implementation was chaotic, haphazard, and
partial, and for the most part disregarded the policy objectives and philosophies. This was caused
by a multitude of factors, including the lack of a clear and comprehensive national policy, the

15
lack of government organization and guidance in policy implementation, and resource
deficiencies.

Issues of Inequality and Access, Education for Self Reliance and Education for Training
Policies have been challenged by existing and increasing inequalities in the educational system.
These can be identified primarily along rich-poor divisions, urban-rural divisions (which is often
related to socioeconomic status), and gender divisions. Since the majority of the population in
Tanzania is both impoverished and rurally located, and the majority of the population in rural
areas is often female, these inequities are particularly alarming.

The Education for Self Reliance policy and rural-oriented vocational education failed to address
and even worsened many inequities within the Tanzanian educational system. Firstly, the nature
of a system which attempts to restrict secondary education and higher education opportunities
inevitably led to the predominant access of the elite and wealthy classes in society, while leaving
the lower classes unable to either attain or afford further education given the lower quality
education and limited financial means that was available to them. This is related the policy’s
tendency to increase urban-rural inequity, as most of the population in schools in rural areas were
of much lower socioeconomic status than the population of the urban schools. Furthermore, the
rural-oriented vocational education was naturally intended to target the rural areas, which would
gain the most benefit from such an education. However, this issue in this type of targeted
education is that early vocational preparation has been shown to discriminate against children of
lower socio-economic background, as well as against girls. Therefore, students in rural areas
received a lower education which also predestined them to remain in those same rural and
underdeveloped areas working in specific rural occupations.

Lack of assessment or evaluation. Education for Self Reliance and Education and
Training policies suffer from a significant lack of available data assessing and evaluating their
policy efforts and effectiveness. Lack of data and the lack of comprehensive evaluation efforts
for the Education for Self Reliance policy make it extremely difficult to ascertain its impact.
Accurate assessments are necessary in order to determine whether or not particular aspects and
programs of a policy are successful in meeting their objectives, and furthermore this data allows
policymakers to make informed decisions and reveal which reforms and changes need to be
made.

16
Government efforts to evaluate Education for Self Reliance focused mainly on the economic
production and output of students, rather than on learning outcomes. Lillis and Hogan (1983)
mark this as a common defect of vocationalized education, and record that the “impact of many
training programmes is diluted through being tied to inappropriate leaving examinations” (p. 97)
which make it impossible to determine the true effect of the programs, let alone determine the
changes or shortcomings of such programs.

Coclusion

There are many similarities between implementing policies and other types of
interventions. Implementation enablers are important for policy implementation. Examples
include leadership, communication and feedback mechanisms. Leadership is needed at all levels
of the system for policy implementation. The appropriate level of leadership is needed to reshape
mandates, resources, structures and programmes. Communication plays an important role in
facilitating successful implementation of a policy and should be a core part of policy
development from the beginning and throughout the stages of implementation. Systematic
communications are important to share information and feedback on how implementation is
progressing across sites, and to share wins and important policy milestones to maintain buy-in
and motivation of stakeholders. Feedback mechanisms should be established between
policymakers and front-line practitioners once implementation has begun, to ensure the policy is
being implemented as intended, unplanned consequences are addressed efficiently and to support
the learning capacity of the system. Feedback mechanisms can include regular, standardised
reporting arrangements from front-line services to oversight structures for the policy, and policy
reviews carried out at key points in the policy life cycle, for example mid-term reviews. This
process may minimize the challenges that are encountered in policy implementation in any
society.

17
 References

Adeyemi, M. B., & Adeyinka, A. A. (2003). The Principles and Content of African Traditional
Education. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 35(4), 425-440.

Barber, E. G. (1981). General Education versus Special Education for Rural Development.
Comparative Education Review, 25(2), 216-231.

Block, L. S. (1984). National Development Policy and Outcomes at the University of Dar es
Salaam. African Studies Review, 27(1), 97-115.

Buretta, B., & Swai, D. F. (2008). Review of Education and Training Policy: Volume 3 – Annex
II: Gaps in Education Policies. Dar es Salaam: The United Republic of Tanzania.

Cooksey, B. (1986). Policy and practice in Tanzanian secondary education since 1967.
International Journal of Educational Development, 6(3), 183-202.

Dolan, L. F. (1970). Transition from Colonialism to Self-Reliance in Tanzanian Education (Vol.

16). Ann Arbor: University of Michegon School of Education.

Hafkin, N. (2002). Gender Issues in ICT Policy in Developing Countries: An Overview. Paper
presented at the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) Expert Group Meeting
on "Information and Communication Technologies and Their Impact on and Use as an
Instrument for the Advancement and Empowerment of Women", Seoul, Republic of
Korea.

Hoppers, W. (1996). Searching for Relevance: The Development of Work Orientation in Basic
Education (Vol. 52). Paris: UNESCO: International Institute for Educational Planning.

Komba, D. A. (1980). The Integration of Education and Work in Tanzania: A Clarification of the
Policy Rationale and an Exploration of Its Implications for Implementation and
Evaluation. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International.

Lillis, K., & Hogan, D. (1983). Dilemmas of Diversification: Problems Associated with
Vocational Education in Developing Countries. Comparative Education, 19, 89-107.

18
Mosha, H. J. (1990). Twenty Years after Education for Self-Reliance: A Critical Review.
International Journal of Educational Development, 10, 59-67.

Nyerere, J. (1968). Education for Self-Reliance Freedom and Socialism: A Selection from
Writings & Speeches, 1965-1967. Dar es Salaam: Oxford University Press.

Rajabu, A. S., Sinclair, M. E., & Lillis, K. (1980). School and Community in the Third World.
London: Croom Helm Ltd.

The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. (1995). Education and Training Policy. Dar
es Salaam: The United Republic of Tanzania.

19