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University Student Teachers' Perceptions, Knowledge, and Challenges in Implementing the Revised Ordinary-Level Secondary School Curriculum in Tanzania
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Abstract
This study explored how student teachers perceive Tanzania’s revised basic education curriculum and what this means for teacher training at the Open University of Tanzania. Using a qualitative-dominant (QUAL-quan) embedded mixed-method design, It engaged 256 final-year student teachers through surveys and interviews. The results show a strong wave of optimism; most participants (57.7%) value the new focus on vocational skills and entrepreneurship (82.4%). However, a concerning "knowledge gap" exists regarding structural changes like career pathways (37.1%) and the curriculum's role in shaping student morals (28.9%). The transition from theory to practice faces steep hurdles: 80.1% of teachers reported insufficient professional development, while 81.3% lacked ongoing on-site support. Furthermore, severe shortages of equipment (84.0%) and trained personnel (85.5%) threaten the curriculum's success. While these future educators are motivated by the curriculum’s economic potential, their efforts are hampered by systemic resource deficits and conceptual misunderstandings. To bridge this gap, the government must move beyond one-off training to provide sustained, school-based support and better infrastructure. Only by mobilizing community resources and fixing these systemic flaws can the vision of a competence-based, holistic education become a tangible classroom reality for Tanzanian secondary learners throughout the nation.
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