Adult education in Tanzania: Swedish contributions in perspective

In: Centre for Adult Educators Series, 10

Abstract

This is an anthology, based on the personal experiences of four Swedes who arrived in Tanzania at the end of the sixties. Together with others they worked with the great adult education effort which was launched in the so proclaimed "Adult Education Year 1970". Surrounding their four chapters are various contributions by Tanzanians and expatriates, who worked with adult education together with the Swedes and who give their views on this effort generally and the Swedish assistance specifically. The book deals with the period from 1968 up to 1996 with the main emphasis given to the first part of the seventies, when the adult education effort in Tanzania was at its peak. The decline in later years is also discussed. The four Swedes tell about their work and their experiences of the country in a very personal way, a mixture of emotional reactions and of systematical descriptions of the development of the Tanzanian adult education effort. The other contributions are of a similar character. Two important themes emerge in this book: the crucial role of folk education in national development at the time, backed up by strong political support. Another is the close link between folk education and democracy building. (DÜI-Hff)