International Journal of Social Sciences and Entrepreneurship Vol.1, Issue 9, 2014 http://www.ijsse.org ISSN 2307-6305 Page | 1 POLITICS OF CURRICULUM MAKING: A QUANDARY TO QUALITY EDUCATION IN TANZANIA? Denis J. Kamugisha School of Public Administration and Management, Mzumbe University, Tanzania Frank J. Mateng’e Dar es Salaam University College of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania CITATION: Kamugisha, D. J. & Mateng’e, F. J. (2014). Politics of curriculum making: A quandary to quality education in Tanzania? International Journal of Social Sciences and Entrepreneurship, 1 (9), 378-396. ABSTRACT Curriculum is the lifeblood of quality education. Its ineffectiveness can have devastating repercussion to quality education. While being aware of the role of other factors in influencing quality education, this paper posits that curriculum development dilemma and its impact on quality education in Tanzania have not been sufficiently addressed. The interplay between sound curriculum and quality education cannot be overemphasized. To get quality curriculum, Tyler (1949) proposed a model to facilitate the process. Nevertheless, an attempt to develop sound curriculum has been a subject of heated debate in academic discourse in many parts of the globe, including Tanzania. Following contemptible education performance in Tanzania, education stakeholders have questioned the feasibility of the contemporary curriculum. However, they remained silent about the root cause of the dilemma. This paper argues that the absurdity of the existing curriculum is attributed to politics of curriculum making. Therefore, through a thematically oriented review of literature, this paper is inclined to shed light to that contention. Key Words: Curriculum, Quality education, and Politics Introduction There is no dispute that quality curriculum influences quality education. Because of this fact, some prominent educators such as Tyler (1949) and Taba (1962) strongly stressed that curriculum issues are central to education and curriculum is taken to be at the heart of education enterprise. Quality education carries with it numerous attributes of curriculum matters. However, curriculum matters, such as those of its implementation can be surpassed by existing complexities. Taba (1962) clearly argued that curriculum development is a complex undertaking that calls for determining a complex set of decisions. In the process of curriculum design, such decisions hinge upon the general and specific objectives of basic education set to be transmitted