The government has warned planners and implementers of school construction projects against building education infrastructure based on the existing system, saying planned reforms must be considered to avoid costly adjustments in future.
Prime Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba said the Government plans to begin implementing education reforms in 2028, including changes that will make education compulsory up to Form Four and aim to ensure every village has a secondary school.
He said funds allocated for school construction should therefore be used in line with the direction of the planned reforms to ensure new infrastructure meets future requirements. Dr Nchemba made the remarks on September 17, 2026, while closing the National Planners’ Conference 2026 in Arusha, held under the theme, ‘Delivering Vision 2050: Strengthening Integrated Planning, Execution and Results’.
‘Some areas are still building facilities in the old way, while secondary schools have already been planned in a manner that may change because of these reforms,’ he said.
The Prime Minister said planners and implementers should consider the planned changes when preparing education projects, allocating funds and determining the type and scale of infrastructure required.
He said development plans and budgets should reflect the direction of education reforms so that public resources are used to provide facilities that can serve future needs.
Dr Nchemba said failure to take the reforms into account could force the government to spend additional resources rebuilding, expanding or modifying infrastructure that had already been completed.
‘The idea is to make sure that when we build today, we know what we will need tomorrow,’ he said.
He said development planning should anticipate future requirements rather than respond to policy changes after projects had already been implemented.
According to the Prime Minister, the issue was particularly important in the education sector because changes in enrolment, curriculum and the duration of compulsory education could affect the demand for classrooms and other facilities.
He said planners should therefore examine policy changes before committing public funds to major construction projects.
Dr Nchemba said the Government’s intention to make education compulsory up to Form Four would increase the need for secondary-school places and require planners to consider how communities would be served by the infrastructure being built.
He said the plan to ensure every village had a secondary school would also influence decisions on the location, capacity and design of new facilities.
The Prime Minister said aligning construction projects with planned reforms would help ensure that public investment remained relevant as the education system evolved.
He said the approach was part of a broader need to ensure that Government policies, development plans and budgets were properly aligned, particularly as Tanzania moves towards implementing Development Vision 2050.
Dr Nchemba said long-term development planning required institutions to look beyond immediate needs and consider how policies and demographic changes could affect demand for public services.
He urged planners to ensure that projects being implemented today supported the country’s future development objectives rather than creating additional costs when circumstances changed.
The remarks formed part of discussions at the National Planners’ Conference, where participants examined ways of strengthening integrated planning, execution and results under Dira 2050.