The impact of civil wars in basic education in the Great Lakes Region: A case study of Tanzania

The study investigates the impact of civil wars on basic education in the African Great Lakes Region focusing on Tanzania. The study is guided by a conceptual framework based on the electic model. The model takes into account direct and indirect components as explanations for the impact of civil wars on basic education in Tanzania. Questionnaires and structured interviews were administered to a sample of 251 respondents consisting of schoolteachers, pupils, parents, and education officers in Karagwe District (Kagera region). Similarly, these were administered to primary and elementary education teachers, school age children out of school, pupils, the education coordinator and commander in refugee settlements in Mpanda District (Rikwa region). The findings reveal that civil wars had direct and indirect impacts on basic education, affecting infrastructure, human and material resources, budgeting, planning and administration, and teaching and learning process. Equity in basic education was a serious problem among refugees due to poverty. Assistance from relief agencies to the affected areas included building and repairing schools, digging wells, providing seedlings and planting trees. However, there were no plans to help teachers and children who suffered from civil wars and the resultant refugee influx. Finally, it is suggested that Tanzania should take precautionary measures whenever civil wars loom in neighbouring countries.