The Challenges of Education Managers in Enhancing Equitable Access to Quality Secondary Education in Tanzania Mainland: a Case of Community Secondary Schools in Iringa Region
The purpose of this study was to critically explore and examine the challenges which Education Managers- at Regional, District and School levels experienced in the course of enhancing equitable access to quality Secondary Education in Tanzania. This study was conducted in Iringa Region. It involved various respondents, namely- Regional and District Education Officials, Heads of Community Secondary Schools, Education University Students, Local Government Authority Councillors and Members from the General Public. The data were collected using documentary reviews, open-ended Interviews, questionnaire and Focus Discussion Group Methods. The main findings of the study were: firstly, weak: and ineffective management of Secondary Education caused irregular attendance of students, poor teaching and lack of initiative to procure teaching/leaming materials. Secondly, inadequate funding of Community Secondary Schools was a root cause of many unauthorized cost sharing contributions at school settings which affected access to secondary education of children from economically disadvantaged families. Thirdly, political undue influence and interferences were among the main causes of teachers' attrition in many Secondary schools and hence declining of quality of education in schools. And fourthly, lack of legal literacy among Education Managers affected their roles in enhancing equitable access of female students to secondary education as stipulated in Education and Training Policy. The following were recommended: (i) Education Managers should be empowered to commensurate with their roles in order to effectively manage education policies, and programmes in their areas of administration. (ii) There should be proper budgetary funding of secondary education in order to ensure that all selected students are equitably accessible to quality education.(iii) More effective legal measures should be taken against men who deny girls of their rights to education by having love affairs with them and eventually impregnate them. (iv) Teachers' colleges and universities should introduce in their curricula a course in Law of Education so that in future every teacher in Tanzania will have knowledge on how to enforce all legal frameworks pertinent to Education career. (v) The entire management and administration of Secondary education should be in the hands of education professionals in order to enhance equitable access to quality education at this level.
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