23-Apr-2012
LEARN SPORT FROM TANZANIA
Aamir Bilal
While in office Tanzania recently retired president the Hon. Benjamin William Makapa, made a national speech in which he declared that sport is vital for development and should be include in all national programs and policies. More recently, the current president, the Hon. Jakaya Mirsho kikwete, reinforced his views. Declaring that sport is a national priority and emphasizing its importance as an essential component of children overall education, the president has called for physical education and sport to be taught at all educational levels from primary school to university. This is the vision and political will that drives the nation’s youth and its resources to fetch glory for its country, where sport has certainly emerged as a priority issue for its leadership.
In Tanzania, sport is understood as a means to advance the economic, social, and cultural well being of all Tanzanians. While the current national sport policy, dose not include a formal definition of sport or sport for development, the policy is being reviewed and these definitions are now being included in the updated policy.
The United Republic of Tanzania has a national sport policy, formulated in 1995, that clearly acknowledges sport as a tool for development. The policy maintains that sport is a cross cutting tool and that every government department has a part to play in developing the sport culture. The ministry of education, the state department of youth, and the armed forces all play important roles, with a focus on developing competitive sports in the country.
The existing policy does not currently target specific groups or population, however the government is reviewing is national sport policy to ensure that it complies with the current position of the UN, and to see how it can be Improved and implemented more effectively.
Pursuant to the President’s declaration the government has instructed the ministry of education to ensure that every school- from the primary to university level- has qualified sport and physical education teachers. The educational curriculum is being revised accordingly to incorporate sport management and physical education. Teacher training collages are also incorporating physical education and sport management into their curriculum so that all future graduates have the capacity to teach physical education and take on scientific coaching and management of sport at the appropriate level. Unlike our system the cost of incorporating sport in the system in being covered in the education budget of Tanzania.
In addition, the national sport policy of Tanzania emphasizes the development of professional sport as means of employment and poverty eradication. It also encourages Tanzanians to participate in sport activities to improve their own health and productivity, as these are vital to poverty reduction in the country.
The government of Tanzania sees human development, health promotion, disease prevention, community development, building of individuals and social capital, conflict resolution and peace building, economic development, gender equity and advancement of human rights as the potential benefit of sports for development and peace in the country which was once marked by gross human rights violations and HIV Aids.
The sport development department uses sport to fight HIV/AIDS through its peer coach program. Coaches work in selected districts where HIV rates are exceptionally high. Two out of school youth (male and female) aged 14-24 are selected from each ward (there are 10-25 ward per district) to participate in a 10 days training session on sport coaching (soccer, netball, volleyball and traditional games). Participants also received training about HIV/AIDS privation and ways to include and care for people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV/AIDS orphans. At the end of the training, the trainees are given footballs to enable them to provide sport training in their respective ward. Upon returning to their communities, they develop sport programs for their peers and use these as vehicle to educate young people about HIV/AIDS awareness and intervention.
The Tanzanian government is working actively to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities through sport to the Paralympics and Special Olympics. It has also asked all of the country’s sport associations to establish Women’s Committees to work on increasing the participation of girls and woman in sport. The government also promotes jogging clubs across the country in every housing sector. These encourage seniors as well as others, to remain active by walking or fun jogging.
The government has pumped USD 12,500,000 in capital sports projects primarily the constriction of new sport stadium in Dare s Salaam. Unlike us where the question mark hangs around the fate of local governments, the Tanzanian national sport policy encourages local government to have local sport grounds for community based sport for all kind of sport activities. While the national policy of Tanzania was adopted five year before the declaration of the MDGs, its contents can be linked to, and used to attend, all eight of the MDGs.
Without the availability of correct data a comprehensive and workable plan for sport promotion is not possible, therefore 120 district sport officers collect data at the district level on the number of the sport groups like association and clubs, coaches, referees, sport medicine doctors and instructors, competition held at different levels and sports grounds. This data is then compiled at the national level to assist the government in measuring and monitoring of sport development in the country.
The lead department within the government is the Sport Development Department located within the Ministry of Information, Culture and Sports. The Sport Development Department coordinates implementation of the National Sport Policy.
We all understand that it needs mountains to move and whirl winds to blow to make our pathetic sport decision makers understand the value of data collection, research and paper work involved in meticulous sports planning, which is certainly not a cake liked by uneducated sports experts clinging to Pakistan’s national sports like parasites since ages.
The Sport Development Department also works closely with in National Sport Council of Tanzania, an independent agency established by the Ministry of Information, Culture and Sport. The Council’s chair is appointed by the ministry and is usually a Member of Parliament or other senior discussion maker. The Council coordinates the activity of national sport associations with regard to sport development, sport for all, and high performance competitive sport.
The government holds an annual internal sport competition for all of its employees, regardless of age or gender. Separate competitions are held by interstate organization and the Armed Forces. The Sport Development Department provides technical assistance for these events and coordinates national sport association for the purposes of selecting national teams.
The government has developed a process to involve a board rang of stakeholder at the district and national level. This include consultations with all sports, education, health, and other interested stakeholder at the district level, with feedback from these discussion incorporated into a national dialogue process which was later led by the President of Tanzania.
The Sport Development Department is highly decentralized with programs developed and managed at district level. The central departments provide policy direction, funding and technical assistance to its district offices, which, in turn work with and provide resources to local civil society groups. District offices also provide feedback on policies to their regional offices and the central department.
Further to President’s declaration, sport is being fully integrated in the Tanzania national education system at all level that makes sport education as the corner stone of sport development in the country.
Tanzania is also host to many refugees affected by conflict in neighboring countries like Rwanda, Congo and Burundi. The Sport Development Department has succeeded in bringing refugees together through sport to reduce conflict and foster peaceful coexistence. Projects begin by mixing refugee children from different groups in sport and play activities, encouraging them to from friendships across ethnic and cultural boundaries. As a result of these relationships, parents are then engaged in sport activities that encourage them to do the same. These programs have been very successful in building bridges between the different refugee communities.
Initially like Pakistan the Ministry of Education of Tanzania was also opposed to school-based sport training and competition. Under the leadership of the new President, this policy has been reversed and all schools must now offer sport and physical education as a core subject at all levels of education.
As the national sport policy has been legislated, it has helped the Sport Development Department to enhance regulation of sport operators and administrators, and to foster better, more democratic governance among sport associations. While implementation of this well thought out policy also revealed loopholes that were later closed, this has taught the government that policy is a dynamic document that needs frequent revisiting.
I need not re-emphasize the importance of a dynamic, well thought sport policy for development of sport in Pakistan nor I have to over emphasize the importance of sport for peace, development and education in the country, because enough has already been written about it that went un-noticed.
Pakistan is one of the thirty eight countries of the world that joined the Sport for Development and Peace International Working Group (SDP IWG) in Beijing in 2008. And if this was not just another formality but a well thought, conscious and serious step taken by the sport ministry, then Pakistan will have to act quickly like Tanzania. The scarcity of human resource to address and link the complicated issues of sport, education, health, peace and development would appear like monster, compelling the short sighted sports experts to carry out some cosmetic measures to save the day, but cosmetics will lead us no where.
Let us start new, start professional and let’s leave a legacy of a comprehensive sport culture embedded in the interventions of sport for development for our next generation, where they learn to respect each other and grow as responsible citizens, ready to face the challenges of modern competitive world.
Aamir Bilal
Qualified IOC Coach
sdfsports@gmail.com
Reference: Letter number PF/ 20627/A addressed to the Chief of Army Staff GHQ dated 30 March 2010.
Honorable Sir,
I hope you find this letter in best of health. I take this opportunity to reiterate my faith in Allah, the system and Pakistan Army that I served with great pride and honor for the last twenty eight years.
Refereeing to the above mentioned letter, I would like to kindly remind you that I was one of the nearly missed cases for the promotion to the rank of brigadier in special review board held during May 2010. I had requested for an interview that must have been disregarded due to your pressing and extensive professional commitments which is fairly explicable.
Sir, I would be retiring from active service in October 2010 when my liabilities would be at peak. Thus my liabilities as well as my unblemished record of service merits your attention and assistance in my reemployment in any suitable organization like ASF, Fauji Fertilizer, Mari Gas Company, Fauji Cement or Askari Bank that falls under your esteemed dominion.
I sincerely hope that you would acknowledge my modest request and help me by compensating through a well deserve reemployment opportunity which is highly justified. I look forward to your fair and kind consideration.
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