Chart of the week #6: What do Tanzanians think of changes to the form four grading system?

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More data journalism from Raia Mwema newspaper this week, again on the front page and drawing as before on data from the Listening to Dar survey panel. This time, the topic is the changes to the grading system for form four exams (see here for details).

I’ve translated the charts here, including the odd design choices (beware of wedges that are not in the most logical order), and a scan of the original is pasted below:

from Raia Mwema newspaper, 9/4/14

from Raia Mwema newspaper, 9/4/14

from Raia Mwema newspaper, 9/4/14

from Raia Mwema newspaper, 9/4/14

Conclusions?

First, there is a clear majority (54% against 41%) that says the better performance in 2013 (under the new grading system) does not mean students have really done better.

And second, a similar majority (62% to 36%) says that the changes to the grading system will not improve the performance of students.

Chart of the week #5: Poverty, inequality and learning outcomes in Tanzania

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From my colleagues at Twaweza this week, a set of four charts showing how learning outcomes vary between poor and non-poor children:

Inequality in learning outcomes. Source: Jones et al

Inequality in learning outcomes. Source: Jones et al

So what does it tell us? Well, the main conclusion as far as Tanzania is concerned is that less-poor children do a lot better in the Uwezo tests. In all four charts above, the percentage of children who passed the tests was much higher for non-poor children than for the poor.

This may not sound surprising. But what I think makes it particularly interesting is that in Kenya and Uganda, the difference in pass rates between poor and non-poor children were much smaller. In other words, the disadvantage of being from a poor family in Tanzania is worse than the disadvantage of being from a poor family in Uganda or Kenya.

Chart of the Week #4: Distribution of new teachers in Tanzania’s Primary Schools

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HakiElimu published a statement last week on the allocation of new primary school teachers to different regions, including this chart:

Pupil teacher rations in Tanzanian primary schools, by region, 2013 and 2014. Source: HakiElimu

Pupil teacher ratios in Tanzanian primary schools, by region, 2013 and 2014. Source: HakiElimu

Their main point is that although the teacher-pupil ratio has dropped in most regions, there doesn’t seem to be any effort to send new teachers to the regions where they are needed most. Even in regions where the ratio is below the national target of 1:40, more new teachers are being added – see Pwani, Morogoro, Iringa, Kilimanjaro, Katavi, Arusha – while regions like Tabora, Mara, Geita, Mwanza and Kagera remain below the target.

Tanzania’s ongoing water sector mess

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Twaweza has a new policy brief out*, on a subject that’s close to my heart: water supply in Tanzania. Money flows, water trickles is the title, and it’s hard to argue with that. A lot of money has been spent, with worryingly very little to show for it.

Over the 10 year period of 1995-2005, Tanzania received USD $57 per beneficiary in aid flows earmarked for rural water supply, but coverage fell by 1%. Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda all received considerably less aid per beneficiary, but managed to improve their coverage significantly. Continue reading →

What do Tanzanians really think of the three governments idea?

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From The Citizen 18/3/2014

From The Citizen 18/3/2014

Justice Warioba: “Of the almost 38,000 citizens who gave their views on the Union, 19,000 expressed an opinion on the form of the Union. The breakdown of these statistics show that on the mainland, 13% supported One Government, 24% supported Two Governments and 61% supported Three Governments. In Zanzibar, 34% supported Two Governments and 60% supported a contract-based Union, and 0.1% (25 people) supported One Government.”

President Kikwete: “There are those who claim the Commission’s statistics don’t show the truth. They say that the information of the Commission shows that 351,664 Tanzanian gave their views to the Commission. Of them, 47,820 citizens (13.6%) were unhappy with the form of the Union and raised the issue. 303,844 citizens (86.4%) didn’t see the form of the Union as a problem, which is why they didn’t raise the issue at all. So people are asking how today 13.6% of all Tanzanians who gave their views has become the majority of Tanzanians!”

They’re talking about the same data. How many people gave their views to the Constitutional Review Commission? How many people discussed the Union question? How many supported which form of the Union?

Continue reading →

Chart of the Week #3: Open or closed voting, via RaiaMwema newspaper

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RaiaMwema published an interesting bit of data journalism today, on it’s front page:

Open or closed? - From RaiaMwema 26/3/14

Open or closed? – From RaiaMwema 26/3/14

It’s the chart on the left that’s most interesting – it shows that just over half (54%) of the 268 people they asked said that they felt the Constitutional Assembly should make its decisions using secret voting, while 43% said the voting should be open. The issue has divided the assembly itself for a full month now - a final decision on the voting procedure has been repeatedly deferred.

Continue reading →

Talking ’bout a (data) revolution? Then let’s make it truly revolutionary

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A version of this post was published on post2015.org, in their blog series, ‘What kind of ‘data revolution’ do we need for post-2015?’

- – - – -

Don’t you know, they’re talking ’bout a revolution, sounds like a whisper;
Finally the tables are starting to turn, talking ’bout a revolution

Tracy Chapman

“We call for a data revolution,” said the report of the high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda, “with a new international initiative to improve the quality of statistics and information available to citizens. We should actively take advantage of new technology, crowd sourcing, and improved connectivity to empower people with information on the progress towards the targets.”

As someone who works in the field of data and development, I find this idea exciting. But there seem to be a couple of problems with how it is being interpreted. Continue reading →