The education system in Tanzania, according to Omari (1982), is a mixture of the German and British education systems. Our system consists of five levels of education: pre-primary education, primary, ordinary secondary education (‘O’ level), advanced secondary level (‘A’ level) and HE. The pre-primary is often for two years followed by seven years of primary education, at the end of which seventh-year students sit a national examination to qualify for secondary education. Secondary education consists of two levels. The first level is the ordinary level, which takes four years. At the end of the fourth
year, candidates sit a national examination and upon successful completion are awarded Ordinary Certificate of Secondary School Education (CSSE), then progress to advanced level secondary school education. The second level is the Advanced Secondary School Education (ACSSE), which lasts two years. Upon successful completion of this level candidates are awarded Certificates of Advanced Secondary School Education (ACSSE) and can progress to HE.
A renowned Tanzanian scholar, Mkude (2011), points out how these pathways are blind to the life or educational experiences of those aspiring to enter HE as they often subject each candidate to equally stiff competition. Mkude (2011) indicates that those from public schools are subjected to competition with those from private schools who have better learning and teaching environments and are from affluent families. Adding to Mkude’s (2011) argument, I would say that students with disabilities, such as those with albinism, are also subjected to the same scrutiny as those without any disabilities, which limits their chances to participate in HE. Reay (2012) suggests that in order for an education system to be considered good, it should allow just competition.
A study by Haki Elimu (2008) revealed that some schools in Tanzania lacked essential teaching and learning facilities, and the materials necessary to facilitate the learning of disabled students. The study also revealed that some primary and secondary teachers also lacked the skills and training necessary to teach disabled students. This lack of training, according to Haki Elimu (2008), caused some teachers to refuse to have students with special needs in their classes. Lack of supportive devices and skilled teachers affects the learning processes of disabled students; subjecting them to the same examinations as those without disability therefore constitutes an unjust competition whereby disabled students will always be denied opportunities to participate in education, including HE. HE in Tanzania, as compared to countries in the Global North, is a recent phenomenon. It started 54 years ago when the now University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), which is the oldest university in Tanzania, was established as a college of the University of London in 1961. The expansion of HE in Tanzania has been slow compared to other countries in SSA (Cooksey et al., 2003). The HE system in Tanzania falls into two categories: university and non-university (TCU Guidebook, 2014). According to this classification, non-universities are institutions that offer three-year courses, mainly technical bachelor
degrees, whereas universities are those institutions that offer the standard bachelor degrees and postgraduate degrees (TCU, 2014).
Following the adoption of neo-liberal policies as mentioned above, drastic HE expansion in Tanzania began in 1995 when the HE sub-sector was liberalised and private institutions were allowed to operate. Basing on HE classification, there are now 75 HE institutions, of which 52 are universities and 23 are non-university-level institutions. My research focuses on the experiences of students with albinism in universities in Tanzania, of which 40 are privately-owned and 12 are publicly-owned. My focus is on both public and private universities in Tanzania. Out of the 75 HE institutions, only three have supportive devices and services to accommodate students with various disabilities.
Exploring the locations within HE of students with albinism was challenging because of limited data. However, the data that I collected revealed that there were 20 students with albinism who were located in 12 universities where they were undertaking different degree programmes. Of these 20, eight were female students and 12 were male, which corroborates the existing literature suggesting that disabled students who participate in HE are often male (Barnes, 2007; Mumba, 2009). I also found that eight students with albinism were located in public universities and 12 students with albinism were in private universities. This indicates that students with albinism were widely located in private universities, although some public universities, as single entities, enrolled more students with albinism than single private universities: some private universities had only one student with such condition whereas in one public university there were four students with the condition, following various degree programmes. Here we need to bear in mind that the 20 students with albinism include the seven students with albinism participants who were currently undertaking studies in HE but not the seven graduates with albinism in this study who had already completed their studies.
In terms of programmes, I found that while no students with albinism were studying agriculture, natural sciences and STEM, two of them were undertaking BMA programmes, six were pursuing education arts programmes and one student was enrolled on an education science programme. I also found that there were 10 students located in the law and social science cluster and just one in subject areas allied to medical sciences. These findings
suggest that students with albinism in Tanzania are mostly located in the subject areas of law and social sciences.
In Tanzania, data reveal that most disabled people reside in rural areas (NDS, 2008). However, my research reveals that students with albinism were mainly located in universities in urban areas; indeed, of the 20 students with albinism only two were enrolled in a university located in a rural area. The low number of such students in rural universities may be because Tanzanian universities, although located in different regions of the country, are mostly located in urban areas.
Returning to my earlier discussion of neo-liberal policies in relation to HE, the implementation of SAPs in Tanzania demanded cost-sharing in various areas of public services, including the provision of HE. This means that HE in Tanzania is not free. Therefore, students entering either public or private institutions are required to pay a tuition fee. However, in terms of financial opportunities there are students’ financing arrangements under which eligible students receive either loans or grants to pursue HE studies (Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MOEVT), 2014). Students’ Loans, according to the Tanzania Higher Education Students’ Loan Board (HESLB) Act, (2004), are given specifically to ‘needy’ students. The HESLB defines a ‘needy’ student as one whose parents are economically disadvantaged. There is no doubt that student loans have contributed to a large extent to the ease of entry, retention or completion of the students and graduates who were interviewed in this thesis, particularly the 11 participants with albinism from less affluent families. But the Tanzanian Education Sector Analysis conducted by United Nation Education and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO) (2011) revealed that only 10 per cent of students in HE benefiting from such loans were from less affluent families. This could mean that there were other students with albinism from less affluent families who could not access the loans and therefore could not either participate in or continue with HE. In the 2014/2015 academic year, a total of 59,887 students were selected to enter 52 universities and out of these 1,766 students could not continue with their studies for financial reasons (TCU, 2015). This is an indication that a lack of financial support can affect the retention of HE students including students with albinism.
For further financial opportunities, students are also financed through student grants. Student grants are specifically issued to students pursing the Doctor of Medicine degree
programmes (MOEVT, 2011) and issued to medical students irrespective of their social- economic status. Evidence indicated that in Tanzania the majority of students entering science-related programmes, including medicine, are often from privileged backgrounds (Cooksey et al., 2003; Morley et al., 2010). Given the level of poverty that often surrounds disabled people in Tanzania as indicated above, it is obvious that few disabled students, including those with albinism, interact with student grant opportunities.
My data, for example, reveal that it was not until 1989, 28 years after the establishment of university education in Tanzania, that the first student with albinism (male students) entered HE. This means that for 28 years after Tanzania’s independence in 1961, the country’s HE system had been excluding people with albinism, contrary to the country’s constitution. Articles 9 and 11 of the Constitution of Tanzania declare the right of every citizen to pursue education in their field of choice up to the highest level, in accordance with their merits and abilities (URT, 1978). As mentioned above, some disabled people have limited rights.
In terms of admission, more opportunities are made available through the Open University of Tanzania (OUT). OUT, as indicated by its name, has an open and distance mode of delivery. It has centres across the country and charges a minimal tuition fee of Tshs 360,000/- per annum (approximately £120) (TCU Guidebook, 2014). The increase of opportunities has gone hand in hand with the increase of students that is from 40,000 students in 2005 to approximately 200,981 students in 2015 (TCU, 2015). Although statistical data on the numbers of disabled students in HE is limited, as already mentioned literature indicates that the beneficiaries of HE opportunities are often from affluent families (Cooksey et al., 2003; Morley et al., 2010). This could therefore mean that students with albinism from less affluent families are unlikely to fully benefit from the increased opportunities, illustrating that widening participation strategies in HE can sometimes ignore disabled students (Morley et al., 2010).
To participate in HE in Tanzania, a candidate must meet the prescribed entry requirements. According to TCU (2014) one of the bodies which regulates and sets entry criteria into university level institutions in Tanzania, candidates can enter through four pathways: direct entry, equivalent qualifications, re-sitting and recognition of prior learning. The direct entry pathway is based on ‘A’ level examination performance; the equivalent
qualifications pathway considers a diploma or foundation certificate. The re-sit is for those who do not meet the required HE admission criteria in their first examination sitting (National Examination Council of Tanzania (NECTA), 2014). These candidates can re-sit their ‘O’ or ‘A’-levels national examinations.
In recent years Tanzania has introduced a new criterion which widens access to HE. This new criterion, known as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Examinations, caters for candidates who completed primary education but were not selected for secondary education. These candidates, however, must have undertaken some extramural or professional development courses and had relevant work experience in the field for which they apply. Nevertheless, only five out of the 52 universities have adopted RPL and only into specific programmes.
The three non-traditional pathways, the RPL, the re-sit system, and equivalent qualifications have provided opportunities to students who might not have had the opportunity to participate in HE including those living with albinism. For example, primary school leavers with professional certificates, and those who did not complete high school have now been given an opportunity to interact with HE and become students in various HE institutions in Tanzania.
Given the challenges and limited chances that students with albinism encounter in their interplay with HE opportunities, it was surprising, firstly, how the 20 students with the condition whereby eight were female students, that were seen to be studying in HE institutions, negotiated the stiff competition and succeeded in being among the 200,981 students enrolled in HE in Tanzania (TCU, 2015); and, secondly, how they competed against Tanzania’s 2.5 million HE population cohort (UNESCO, 2011) and won the competitive game. The few and brave, whom I believe have displayed extraordinary agency in negotiating their access into HE, need to be nurtured and protected by removing barriers within or outside the HE settings that threaten their success. Studies in Tanzania on disability in HE (Tuomi et al., 2014; Morley and Croft, 2011; Mwaipopo et al., 2011; Morley et al., 2010) informed us that the barriers within the HE settings were access to built environments, and teaching and learning resources as well as attitudes, ignorance and prejudice. This study adds to their work by illustrating that emotions, symbolic violence and misogyny can constrain and impede the participation of disabled students, including
students with albinism, in HE, but because of various enablers they succeed to enter HE. I now provide the structure of my thesis.