This study aims to examine the challenges facing Tanzania's primary education in achieving quality education and make comparisons with other countries. This study employed secondary data analysis procedures. The documents reviewed were published from January 2002 to October 2021. Firstly, the documents comprised the government's plans and policies, as well as non-governmental and multilateral organizations’ reports. Secondly, empirical studies, namely scholarly journals, reviewed articles, reference books, and theses, were reviewed. As a result of searches conducted by Google Scholar, Taylor and Francis, Sage Publication, and Science Direct, a total of 50 documents were retrieved and considered for content analysis. The findings showed that despite the noticeable achievements, the learning quality and outcomes remain daunting in Tanzanian primary schools. Explicitly, the pupil-classroom ratio (PCR) is very high due to a shortage of school buildings to accommodate the rapid increase in enrollment of pupils necessitated by the Free Primary Education (FPE) policy. The textbook-pupil ratio (TPR) and pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) are high and do not match the desirable demands. Teachers have doubtful quality since there are low entrance qualifications for the colleges and they receive little or no in-service training. Also, teachers’ absenteeism from duty is overwhelming. The budget allocation and expenditure on education have been inadequate, resulting in a shortage of necessary school infrastructure, including classrooms and libraries. Moreover, the curriculum lacks relevance to the Tanzania context, and its development process is not inclusive of stakeholders. The academic performance of pupils in school tests and national examinations is not impressive and consistent. Similar challenges face Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya, which are considered case studies of developing countries, specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa. Developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea, on the other hand, experience language barriers in multicultural societies, technological bullying, classroom breakdowns, a lack of parental cooperation, and academic pressure and anxiety. This study recommended policymakers in Tanzania and Sub-Saharan Africa at large should critically rethink their educational plans, policies, and programs so that they can adopt the best approaches and strategies for providing quality primary education. This could involve more investment in education, researching on alternative education, and trying to embrace the out-of-school programs that continue to receive considerable attention in academic discussions

There is no doubt that formal schooling has and still plays the role of almost a solitary agent of education in society. However, as time goes on, the question of formal schooling's adequacy in achieving 'true' education in modernity is increasingly being raised. Arguably, formal schooling looks to entertain conformity, social classification, psychological threats, and limits the skills development of learners. Therefore, there must be an alternative education model which creates more channels for learning so that society is no longer confined to the systems of formal schooling. In search of alternatives, deschooling society is becoming viable in today's education. This study aims to examine the understanding of Illich's deschooling society by scholars in the 21st century. The authors analyzed 23 articles related to Illich’s ideas published from 2000 to December 2020. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the texts and provide interpretations from the reviewed articles. The findings reveal that current scholars view deschooling society as a critical pedagogy that offers alternative learning opportunities to the learners. They argue that more education could be provided through newborn innovations such as flexible-learning in the open community, home-sch ol, work-based learning, the free choice of courses, open educational resources (OER), and massive open online courses (MOOC). On top of that, the openness of science in digital platforms or its pervasiveness in which it is organized in the modern community would most likely widen learning opportunities for the learners. These innovations are useful in transforming from the current formal education which has no bearing on the quality of education provided to the learners. This study calls for more academic researches and discussion on finding suitable ways for adopting Illich's ideas in modern society.