A university practitioner in philosophy has predicted that Tanzania will continue losing more potential intellectuals in future in various disciplines due to a poorly designed education system in the country.
Speaking in an exclusive interview yesterday, Dr. Jason Ishengoma of the Philosophy Unit of the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) said that the practice of education drives most school candidates into cramming materials and doesn’t develop a critical mindset of thinking about the future.
He gave specific examples from supervising fieldwork where students fail to perform when exposed to issues on the ground, but pass well in classroom settings.
With the current education system, prospective students are not taught to become innovative and creative and venture to be in a position of employing themselves. Instead it fosters attitudes of dependency of being hired, especially in the civil service or other government agencies.
Dr. Ishengoma, who teaches philosophy and religion at the Hill, expressed dismay over the education system, emphasizing that failures of the government explain these problems.
If the government will not alter the system it will face hardship in future as the current education system cannot provide the right attitude or even knowledge of how to fashion attitudes in life, that is, an adequate philosophical knowledge.
Teaching of philosophy needs to start early in life, especially at home at a tender age, so as to give a proper perspective to children to make an outlook for themselves, of things they can pursue and achieve.
Parents should also be strict with education and attitude formation of their children, he specified.
Children cannot develop critical thinking without mastering a particular language, he said, noting that unlike in Tanzania, where Kiswahili is commonly used in most spheres of communication, English is rarely used in routine activities, so most Tanzanians fail to communicate themselves outside the local setting.
Dr. Ishengoma met this reporter at the launching ceremony of a network,‘Your Uniqueness is Your Capital’ initiated by the Registered Trustees of Community Development Services (RTCDS), a city NGO.
The network brings together people of all walks of life with the common intent of thinking out various ways on how to cope with various challenges affecting the daily lives of most people in the society.
The major obstacles in this aspect include grand corruption, drug trafficking, poaching, unemployment and various forms of economic sabotage.
The firm’s NGOs executive director who is also a human development specialist, Mayrose Majinge told The Guardian on Sunday that the network was needed because there are people who reduce their value for non-realisation of their uniqueness, failing to use it as a winning card in life.
Through the network people would be educated on various knowledge issues, hone professional skills in order to achieve intended economic goals so that people might get what they require to cater for daily life needs, undercutting the incidence of poverty in society.
“Everyone is unique and this gives great value in the midst of society in which everybody lives,” she said, adding that the program will build up the sense of honor to get away from weakness and poverty.
SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY
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