Funding in the spotlight as calls for vocational skills training grow

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is expanding vocational education in secondary schools, but the growing demand is increasingly putting pressure on funding and facilities.

The question is no longer whether students want practical education. Increasingly, they do, according to a teacher at Korogwe Girls Secondary School, in Tanga, Ms Catherine Machugu, who teaches the vocational stream, commonly known as Amali in Kiswahili.

“At some point, we are forced to redirect some students to the general stream because we do not have enough space and equipment to accommodate them,” she told The Citizen in an interview.

As such, the more pressing question is whether the country can provide enough workshops, laboratories, kitchens, studios and production spaces for students to learn practically.

Through the Tanzania Education Authority (TEA), schools offering Amali subjects have been equipped with practical learning materials.