English syllabus for primary schools needs revisiting to make it tick

There are a lot of improvements to be made in education due to defects which are obvious in the entire system.

It is easy to see the defects but it is not so in identifying causes of those defects. This kind of proposition makes it necessary to reveal hidden aspects in our education system which owes us the unsatisfying results such as the claim that our graduates are not employable.

To point out one of the causes of poor performance of our education, we cannot escape mentioning syllabuses and for today’s analysis it is English syllabus for primary schools.

Before evaluating the syllabus let me say that it will be very wrong to try to say that those people who prepared the syllabus did not do a good job but it is encouraging to air out views which can lead to improvements, especially when geared by freedom of expression which our constitution guarantees.

There are two major areas in the English syllabus where one can raise some claims which can hardly be rejected. The first area is content delivery. There are contents which the teacher is expected to teach but they are not shown in the syllabus.

The other area is expressivity for contents. The syllabus does not provide in-depth explanation on what should be taught. One can say that the syllabus for English for primary schools has been too general, posing a tussle job of analysis that a teacher has to do. Due to lack of expressivity in the English syllabus for primary schools, there are some challenges which the education stakeholders may encounter.

One of those challenges is failure by the teacher to cover the required contents because they are not shown clearly in the syllabus.

A teacher is a professional who should be able to interpret the syllabus and develop lessons, but what can this professional do if the syllabus is not clear?

The challenge is that the teacher will prepare lessons which are not broad enough to meet the intents of the syllabus and hence reducing the confidence of the teacher.

If the teacher is not confident, it is indubitable that he or she cannot guide pupils into the paths of assurance of knowledge, therefore subjecting the educator into possibility of credibility been shaken by the pupils, something which is disgraceful.

The ultimate effect of defects in the syllabus is failure by the pupils due to impaired teaching process as a result of the syllabus which is not self-explanatory.

One can opt for divergent thinking, holding that if the syllabus is not detailed, let us consult books written following the syllabus. Again there are defects in those books by the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE), a body mandated to interpret curricula and produce syllabuses and other teaching and learning documents.

The defects in those books written by TIE necessitate revisiting the syllabus as the recourse is non-existent.

With the books for English for primary schools, two defects if not more are seen. One is presence of very good exercises but without introductory part to initiate learning of those concepts revealed by the exercises. This situation makes it difficult for the teacher to rely on those books.

The second defect is missing or partial delivery of contents. This situation makes the use of a single book a challenge while some analysts propose it as among remedies to our educational challenges.

The challenges in education calibrate the conviction that the government should revisit the English syllabus and books for primary schools to ensure their validity in the struggles we have in making our education able to provide solutions to the challenges we face as a nation.

The improvements in the syllabus and English books will enable teachers improve the learning and teaching processes as they will be away from confusion and wasting time in finding what is worthy of being taught regarding the syllabus.

However, despite the challenges in those books by TIE, the institute can be hailed for being able to write books which are rich in illustrations and good exercises. There are a few things which if improved the institution will be outstanding and the stronghold for treasures of education in the country.

With some issues not fixed in our English syllabus for primary schools, an alternative should be conceived. Examining questions which appear in English national examinations can help the teacher know areas which he or she has to cover so that pupils can be able to face examinations which for centuries have been a measure of understanding in the world.

We cannot improve on what we have not done. As we have put our syllabus for English for primary schools into use, we can now improve it to make sure the objectives in education are realized.

The contribution may come in a form of criticism but it should be positive and constructive, valuing the freedom of expression without forgetting the basics of civilization. Let us collaborate to improve our education.

The author is a teacher based in Moshi.

He can be reached through [email protected]