Strengthening secondary education in practice: Language Supportive Teaching and Textbooks in Tanzania (LSTT). Pilot study report

The Language Supportive Teaching and Textbooks in Tanzania project (LSTT) is directed at supporting students making the transitioning from standard seven of primary school to Form 1 of secondary school in Tanzania. For a large majority of students this involves a transition in the language of instruction from Kiswahili to English. Low levels of language proficiency in English is known to be a major barrier to learning in secondary schools Tanzania (Arthur, 2001; Oyoo, 2004; Rea-Dickins et al. 2009; Brock-Utne et al., 2010; Rubagumya et al., 2011) . Although private primary schools generally offer English-medium education, these are an option only for a minority of students living in urban areas with parents able to pay the fees. LSTT is a collaboration between three universities and the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE). The university departments are the Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol; the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Education, University of Dodoma; and the Institute for Educational Development, Aga Khan University East Africa Campus.