I am teaching Form IV English, which means my students are [very roughly] the equivalent of High School seniors in the states. However, as a result of a national census-shortened Semester, my students are graduating this coming Friday. Nevertheless, they still have, as of September 16th, 3 full weeks of classes until they take their O-Level (ordinary level) national exams, after which they are officially done with Secondary School.
Their post-Secondary School life is entirely dependent on their performance on the national exams. If they score well enough to make it into one of the 3 highest achievement divisions, they are able to go on to A-level, which we could compare to Community College in the US, though it is more specifically aimed at preparing students for university. If they score within the fourth highest achievement division they can go to a teachers college for primary school, or go on to vocational school. And, if they score below this fourth pool, their education in Tanzania is effectively over. I believe that most students end up ‘failing’ the exam and ending their education.
Needless to say, most students take the exams very seriously, unless of course they are nowhere near to being able to pass. They are tested not only in English – where a reasonable level of proficiency is needed to end up in this forth division or better – but also (depending on whether they have decided to focus on the sciences or the arts) biology, chemistry, physics, math, geography, history, civics, Swahili, and possibly some others that I have forgotten. Students need a C or better on three different exams to advance to the A-level, and they must take at least 7 exams total. A C is between 41-60%, which is failing by American standards, but the difficulty of the exams make it much easier to distinguish between those of higher ability. Indeed, if students score an A (81-100%) on all their exams (something that is very rare), or A’s mixed in with a couple B’s, they will go to a special A-level school with extra resources and, presumably, the best teachers.
The national exams are very difficult, and at times confusing. On the English exams I have looked over, I have noticed many grammatical errors, and some incorrect use of the English language. This is also true for math and sciences, according to other WorldTeach volunteers, who have actually faced the dilemma of whether to teach a subject correctly, or to teach it incorrectly to match up with the “correct” answers on the exams. Further, some the actual content of some of the topics tested in English are – to my American eyes at least – rather silly. NECTA (the National Examination Council), administers and develops these exams in a very secretive and closed off way, completely apart from the Tanzanian Ministry of Educational and Vocational Training, which runs all the schools in the country.
In any case, passing these exams is a significant hurdle for my students to jump over, if they wish to continue being students. When I introduced myself to my students, I told them that I would be available to help them whenever I was in my office, and that they were welcome to come ask me questions. As such, since my arrival, I have had students in and out of my shared office all day long, with questions about the English exam, many of which I simply do not know the answer to. One student came in with an exam prep book from 1993 that had questions from a past exam, wanting to know how to change a sentence into “reported” English. Looking over my more recent exam prep book, I told her that I didn’t think the current exam would ask such a question. Another was trying to figure out how to change a sentence by adding in a phrase that the exam required. This one I simply did not understand – the English was too Tanzanian for me to know where to begin.
By in large, these students visiting my office are the ones with relatively developed English language skills, and though their English is still at a low level these students are eager to learn and speak English. Most of my students, even including the ones with decent verbal skills, still struggle to write a ‘correct’ English sentence. And, the vast majority of my students have almost no confidence speaking English. In short, these will be a difficult three weeks, as I try to teach the remaining subjects in their syllabus. Specifically, I am tasked with helping prepare students to write (descriptive, argumentative, and expository, among others) essays of at least 250 words, which I do not think most of my students are capable of. These essays are worth 20 points on the exam, but only two of them are for grammar, spelling, and word use, so despite their difficulties forming correct sentences, if they are able to form an essay that more or less correctly answers a question they have a decent chance of doing well on that part of the exam. As I help them develop their weak essay writing skills, I hope that I am also able to improve some of their mechanical English, so that they are able to do better on the other sections of the exam as well. We shall see how it goes!