From state control to network governance of primary education in Tanzania: has local empowerment been attained?

Abstract

Abstract

Governance networks have recently become popular and apparently indispensable in public administration especially due to the fact that we are operating in the context of complex, fragmented and multi-layered societies. The purpose of this theoretical paper is to (1) delineate the concept of governance in terms of its three distinct modes (state control, market and networks/pluralist modes), (2) show how governance of primary education in Tanzania has changed along these three modes of governance and (3) comment on whether the change in the mode of governance of Primary Education in Tanzania from state control to governance networks has led to empowerment of the people at the grassroots levels. Our observation in this paper is that the move from the state control to network governance mode is too theoretical, and has not sufficiently led to empowerment of people at the grassroots levels in the governance of primary education. Therefore, this paper calls upon the state to willingly change radically from its culture from hierarchical control to authentic local empowerment.