Innovations in Assessment Practices Towards Quality Education in Tanzania

Abstract

This article seeks to bring a controversial discussion on the mushrooming of preparation centres e.g. Qualifying Test (QT) centres, Form 4 Repeaters’ centres and other covert sites, which can be taken as positive innovations tapped and recasted to bring quality education. These are seeking to bring an impact on quality education for they are also providing comparable employment and providing education that could not have been obtained without these centres. In addition, the article looks at assessment of students/individuals at such centres, their national examinations and certification/accreditation with the following three specific objectives:  i) to consider assessment at the classroom level (partial assessment) of continuous assessment of a student; ii) to think outside the box of a possibility to conduct national examinations twice (public/secondary schools and the private candidates) at different times of the year with examinations that have the same equivalent weight; and iii) to provide credible accreditation to appropriate programmes/modules/curricula run by registered institutions. The article focuses on the provision of secondary education for the public in terms of public candidates and private candidates for the Ordinary Level Examinations as the agenda of measurement/assessment/evaluation conversation. The article concludes by providing approaches and concrete solutions that will influence the National Examinations Council  of Tanzania (NECTA) and policy makers to make informed deliberations and decisions.