Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, May 1, 2019 –The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) has approved US$90 million in new funding to build on Tanzania’s successful efforts to get more children in school and learning – especially girls and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The grant will improve the quality of pre-primary, primary and non-formal education by strengthening teacher training and professional development, distributing more quality teaching and learning materials to underserved areas and improving planning and management in education.
“We have received this news with a lot of enthusiasm, giving us all the reasons to work even harder for the pupils of Tanzania. The previous GPE grant which will conclude in June, was instrumental in supporting learning activities in the lower levels of primary education. In-service teacher training and deliveries of textbooks to support basic learning skills were performed with great satisfaction,” said Dr. Leonard Akwilapo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. “In this new phase of financing, we will go further to improve the infrastructure, which is also hindering the anticipated delivery of quality education in the country. Generally, this GPE grant will enhance universal access to and participation in quality pre-primary, primary and non-formal education, with particular attention to learners from vulnerable groups. We therefore give a lot of gratitude to the Global Partnership for Education for this generous support.”
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), which is the GPE grant agent in Tanzania, will support the government in the planning, implementation, timely follow-up and reporting of the program.
“GPE funding supports the Tanzanian Government education sector plan and creates a unique partnership in the sector with international supporters and civil society joining to get more children in school and learning”, said Ulf Källstig, Head of Development Cooperation at the Embassy of Sweden.
“Tanzania’s commitment to building a strong education system for all its children has already yielded promising gains,” said Alice Albright, GPE’s Chief Executive Officer. “GPE’s support aims to keep that momentum of progress going, eventually giving all Tanzanian children the learning they need to thrive throughout life.”
More than half of the grant (US$51 million) is fully aligned with Tanzania’s results-based program known as Education Program for Results (EPforR). This is in line with GPE’s results-based funding model where part of the grant is dependent on the Tanzanian Government achieving specific agreed-upon results such as more girls transitioning from primary to secondary school, higher student retention rates at the primary and lower secondary levels, improved primary students’ reading skills and better disbursement of monthly school grants.
Tanzania, which became a GPE partner in 2013, committed in 2016 to providing 12 years of free and compulsory basic education to all children and to expanding technical and vocational education and training. That shift led to a substantial and rapid increase in basic education enrollment (8.5 percent between 2017 and 2018) and a drop in the number of out-of-school children. The quality of education remains a priority and a challenge which the GPE grant will support.
GPE is a multi-stakeholder partnership comprising developing country and donor governments, international organizations, civil society, foundations and the private sector. It receives financial contributions from more than 20 donors, including several active in Tanzania such as Australia, Canada, Denmark, European Commission, France, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.
Even as primary school enrollment and completion rates for girls in Tanzania have exceeded those of boys over the last several years, girls remain under-represented in all higher streams of education, including upper secondary school, TVET and universities. In 2016, for every girl in upper secondary schools, there were 1.6 boys.
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