Summary of NECTA’s History

NECTA is a government institution established by Law in 1973 with the responsibility of administering national examinations in Tanzania. Before 1973, all national examinations were administered by the Curriculum and Examinations Section of the Ministry of Education after Mainland Tanzania had pulled out of the East African Examinations Council in 1971. Having been established, NECTA took over this responsibility but Curriculum issues continued to be handled by the Ministry of Education and the University College, Dar es Salaam until another autonomous institution, the Institute of Curriculum Development (ICD) was established in 1975, which was renamed as the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) in 1993.

Between 1972 and 1976 the first employees of NECTA were recruited, among them being Mr. P. P. Gandye who was recruited in 1972 and later on appointed as the Executive Secretary in 1994. Recruitment of other employees continued, particularly after NECTA’s offices were relocated from the Ministry of Education’s headquarters to the current location in Kijitonyama, close to Mwenge. At the moment, the organization has more than 350 employees.

The Establishment of NECTA

The National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) was established under the Parliamentary Act No. 21 of 1973 with the responsibility of administering all National Examinations and Assessments in Tanzania. The decision to establish NECTA was a follow-up of an earlier move in which Mainland Tanzania pulled out of the East African Examinations Council (EAEC) in 1971 in order to conduct her own examinations. By then, Zanzibar had already pulled out of EAEC in 1970. Before the pull out, between 1968 and 1971, Tanzanian students sat for foreign Secondary School Examinations conducted jointly by the East African Syndicate, which before then were administered by the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate alone. The Examinations conducted by the Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate then were the School Certificate and the Higher School Certificate Examinations. The School Certificate Examinations was taken by African Students for the first time in 1947 and that of the Higher School Certificate in 1960.

Leadership List of NECTA since its Inception 21-11-1973

Chairmen

1. 1973 – 1977 Pius Msekwa
2. 1977 – 1980 Ibrahim M. Kaduma
3. 1980 – 1988 Nicholaus A. Kuhanga
4. 1988 – 1992 Geofrey R. Mmari (Prof)
5. 1992 – 1999 Mathew L. Luhanga (Prof)
6. 1999 – 2004 Geofrey R. Mmari (Prof)
7. 2004 – 2007 Esther D. Mwaikambo (Prof)
8. 2007 – 2018 Rwekaza S. Mkandala (Prof)
9. 2018 – to date William L. Anangisye (Prof)

. Secretaries

1. 1973 – 1978 Raphael Kiyao
2. 1978 – 1986 David J. Bagenda
3. 1986 – 1992 Andrew Modesti
4. 1994 – 1997 Paul P. Gandye
5. 1998 – 2005 Emmanuel M. Nkumbi (Dr)
6. 2005 – 2014 Joyce L. Ndalichako (Dr)
7. 2014 – 2022 Charles E Msonde (Dr)
8. 2023 – to date Said A. Mohamed (Dr)