Chimamanda Adichie speaks very well on the dangers of a single story. However, today it’s unfortunate that Tanzania is about to re-introduce a ‘single textbook-per-subject policy’. The minister of education Prof Jumanne Maghembe has blamed the current system which requires many books per subject as a reason for poor performance in schools. Having listened to Chimamanda’s speech, Tanzania’s single textbook policy seems to be a disaster in the making. The new system “may” manage to decrease the “confusion” caused by the use of many books, but there is a great danger it may limit the potentials that the students may have. Mr. Ogola who is a publisher goes further to say, ‘the bigger impact will be on the quality of education as students will face a reduction in intellectual diversity’. This is very true and also it will ‘kill creativity’ as Mr. Oyuga goes on to claim.
The single textbook system will limit diversity in education something that is very important in schools, especially today where employment is scarce; therefore, many people have to find alternative ways to make ends meet. Although I am disappointed but am also curious to see how this new policy will build students to become independent thinkers and creative in terms of being entrepreneurs. The current system of many text books encourages a nation of thinkers and that’s what a successful entrepreneur neeeds today; a broad knowledge about many things. I fear the new system will end up graduating students who are narrow minded with dependent thoughts instead of graduates who are thinkers. Tanzania needs to move from being a nation of dependency to being self reliant, but until something is done with the education system, the nation will continue to be satisfied with foreign Aid instead of finding alternative ways. Although entrepreneurship among youths is becoming very popular by the day today, but more neds to be done, and with the fast changing world, its easy to be left behind and that’s why the education system needs to be more challenging and I don’t see the single textbook doing that.
Read more:
Chimamanda’s TED talk on YouTube
Business Daily article
