The Impact of Civil Wars on Basic Education in the Great Lakes Region (AGLR): A Case Study of Tanzania
William
A. L. SAMBO
Abstract:
The study investigates the impact of civil wars on basic education in the
African Great Lakes Region focusing on Tanzania. The study is guided by a
conceptual framework based on the eclectic model. The model takes into account
direct and indirect components as explanations for the impact of civil wars on
basic education in Tanzania.
Questionnaires
and structured interviews were administered to a sample of 251 respondents
consisting of schoolteachers, pupils, parents, and education officers in Karagwe
District (Kagera region). Similarly, these were administered to primary and
elementary education teachers, school age children out of school, pupils, the
education coordinator and commander in refugee settlements in Mpanda District (Rukwa
region).
The findings reveal that civil wars had direct and indirect impact on basic
education, affecting infrastructure, human and material resources, budgeting,
planning and administration, and teaching and learning process. Equity in basic
education was a serious problem among refugees due to poverty. Assistance from
relief agencies to the affected areas included building and repairing schools,
digging wells, providing seedlings and planting trees.
However, there were no plans to help teachers and children who suffered
from civil wars and the resultant refugee influx. Finally, it is suggested that Tanzania should take
precautionary measures whenever civil wars loom in neighbouring countries.