Tax

The first taxation ordinance was issued in 1897. Areas under full political control were subjected to a hut Tax whose main object was stated to be 'educational', in that it was intended to oblige Africans to accept paid labour and accustom themselves to European administrative discipline. Unpaid labour on public works could be offered in lieu. The 'educational' objects were soon subordinated to the pressing need for current revenue.

Hut, house, and poll Tax revenue, with total local revenue, 1905-12 in marks

In 1905 Gotzen abolished labour in lieu of Tax and substituted paid work to earn the necessary sum, with compulsory labour for defaulters. He also fixed the maximum assessment at three rupees per hut. By this date, annual payment had become a normal feature of life on the coast and in the more closely administered areas elsewhere. But in many inland regions Tax was still virtually a tribute, 'i.e. the station commander must be satisfied with what he gets '.

Because of the Government's lack of resources and unwillingness to take a strong initiative in educational provision, and in pursuance of the G.I.A. policy, there grew up three racially distinct systems of African, Asian and European education with each of the three; subdivided into state controlled, state aided, and wholly private schools.

In the African sector for example in 1937, there were 9,500 pupils in Government schools, 19,500 in aided schools and 100,000 in private schools. These latter. were often sub-standard bush schools, catechetical centres or Koranic schools along the coast. It was not until 1955 that the Government required these kinds of schools to be registered.

In the same year, there were 985 places in Government schools for Indian children and another 3,318 in grant aided schools. The Indian community were quick to take advantage of the G.I.A. system and fulfil the requirements thus only 320 of their children were that year in private schools.

For the European community in the 1930s, the Government made direct provision in three ways. Arusha School, primarily for boarders, opened in 1934; a correspondence course was based in Dar es Salaam; and there was also a junior primary school in Dar es Salaam. The enrolment figures in 1937 show 59 children in the two latter, and 60 pupils at Arusha School.

There were in addition 704 grant aided places for European children, a significant proportion of these being in national community schools for the Dutch, German and Greek children. Another 15 places were in a private school. The above figures are taken from the enrolment statistics 1931 - 1948 in Appendix G.

There is another way of looking at these statistics and that is to see the percentage of children being- educated from each community. Listowell states that in 1933, 51% of the European children, 49% of the Asian and 2% of the African were at school.

By 1945 7.5%, of the African children attended school though few got beyond the fourth primary grade and none could attempt the entrance exam for tertiary study at Makerere in Uganda. By 1959, 40% of African children attended at least the first four years of primary education, and in 1961, 55% of the age group entered the first primary grade. The present Government of Nyerere aims at universal primary education by 1980. (The comparative cost per head of population has been referred to above and is detailed in Appendix J.)

In 1930 an Education Tax was introduced with the primary object of affording security to the Government for the repayment of loans made -to non-African communities. In 1932 the Indian and European communities were taxed for their education on a poll Tax basis and, in addition, fees were charged at their schools. Nevertheless the Government was making a far more generous per capita provision for European and Indian children than it was for African children. The table in Appendix J shows the total expenditure for each community and the per capita cost from 1931 - 1937. Also the table in Appendix K shows that in 1955/56, 33.7% of the money spent by the Government on European education was collected in fees, 15.4% came from -the European Education Tax and 49.1% from Central Revenue. In 1959. the central revenue provided for European Education an amount equivalent to 1% of the total territorial expenditure.

In 1956, �3,618,555 held by the Custodian of Enemy Property from funds collected from confiscated properties during the Second World Wart was distributed equally between the Tanganyika Higher Education Trust Fund for establishing tertiary education facilities, St Michael's and St George's School, a lavish secondary school for European children at Iringa, Indian education, and African education. This 4 way split seem superficially fair but as President Nyerere has pointed out, the allocation on a per capita basis was equivalent to shs- 720/- to each European, shs. 200/- to each Asian and shs. 2/- to each African.

A 1948 and 1949, the three existing education systems described above were formalized by two ordinances, the Non-Native Education Ordinance and the Non-Native Education Tax Ordinance. This legislation brought into being an Indian Education Authority and a European Education Authority, each composed of representatives of the communities they were to serve. They were responsible for the development and general over-sight of the systems, and for managing the education funds according to the budget approved by the Legislative Council. There was also an Advisory Committee for Other (non-native) Education, which included Goan, Mauritian, Seychellois, Anglo-Indian, and Ceylonese children.

What began in 1948 as a very minor offshoot of basic Government responsibility for the development of the country with only 8,000 Asian and 300 European children, had become by 1961 a major concern catering for 28,000 Asian and 2,500 European children.