Nyerere on Education/Nyerere kuhusu Elimu

Mwalimu Nyerere had a keen appreciation of the challenges of development and social justice embedded in education. This work brings together three decades of his writings on the subject, in both Kiswahili and English.

The collection includes Nyerere’s ground-breaking policy paper ‘Education for Self-Reliance’, which remains a key reference work on progressive and transformative education in a postcolonial context. Other papers discuss the ethical basis for expanding tertiary level education in a developing country where primary education is not yet established, as well as the education needs and rights of school-aged children.

Nyerere’s work further reflects more broadly on the philosophical purpose and cultural meanings of education in Tanzania, calling for liberation education which encourages women and men to be subjects of their own culture. Finally, the essays challenge the market-orthodoxies, macro-reforms and neo- liberalism that were imposed on the education system and still bear their hallmark today.