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Experts suggest new label for English Medium Schoolsby Arusha Times Reporters Various education stakeholders from Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions have recommenced that the notion of "English Medium Schools" should be scrapped and be labelled "Private Primary Schools". According to education experts and other stakeholders, the term "private primary schools" is adequate and more logical. The experts met recently to discuss study findings on private pre-primary and primary education in the Tanzanian education system with Arusha and Kilimanjaro as case studies. The study was conducted by the Arusha based, non governmental organization known as "Maarifa Ni Ufunguo", which deals with issues concerning local education. It was also recommended during the session that both the government and Ministry of Education in particular, should critically review its language policy to match with the current demands of the country in the wake of globalization. As far as language is concerned, the stakeholders recommended that English and Kiswahili should be given the same weight in all schools as media of instruction. The Maarifa Ni Ufunguo study report indicates that Swahili and civics subjects receive less attention in private schools thus jeopardizing national cohesion. The stakeholders said good education should not be measured by examination performance and English fluency only but rather by imparting skills that make children innovative, creative and independent thinkers. The stakeholders also called for active participation of parents and school committees and the capacity for the latter should be strengthened through training and workshops to emphasize on good governance. Earlier on, during the launching of the report, the Director
of "Maarifa Ni Ufunguo", Nicodemus E. Shauri told journalists that some parents
still regard private primary schools as "international schools" due to their
ignorance.
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