Maarifa is gradually being acknowledged by other institutions
for the work we can undertake.
Maarifa has always engaged constructively with government,
and the relationship is starting to be reciprocated. Maarifa was
the first NGO appointed to any of the government Technical Working
Groups on education.
Through contact initially established commissioning of a
consultancy on Tanzania Teachers Union (Chama cha Waalimu Tanzania)
we are known to potential partners in the trade union movement.
This relationship has been strengthened through working alongside
TTU in the Global Week of Action in Dar es Salaam in April 2000.
Donor organisations increasingly recognise the usefulness
of including Maarifa in their activities. In June 2000, Larry
Summers, the US Treasury Secretary visited Tanzania and sought
a meeting with NGOs, facilitated by USAID. Maarifa was the only
specifically education sector NGO invited. We took the opportunity
to express concern about the quality of participation behind the
PRSP process at that time, and to make the connection between
participation and ultimate ownership of the process in Tanzania.
In May/June 2000, the World Bank held a workshop on ‘School
Effectiveness in Sub-Saharan Africa’ in the UK, to which
representatives of all the major agencies as well as other stakeholders
were invited. Maarifa was invited as one of two ‘African
NGOs’, and made a presentation on ‘The Policy Context
in Tanzania’.
