Stakeholders’ views on the contribution of wards secondary schools in promoting progression to the next level of study in Shinyanga Rural

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore stakeholders‟ views on the contribution of wards secondary schools in promoting progression to next level of study in Shinyanga rural as a result of mushrooming wards secondary schools in each ward of Tanzania since the establishment of SEDP in 2004. The specific objectives of the study are; first, to find out stakeholders‟ views on the contribution of wards secondary schools in promoting progression of students to next level of study; second, to examine the performance trend of national examinations in wards secondary schools from 2010 to 2014; third, to explore the factors that affect students‟ progress to the next level of study in wards secondary schools; and lastly, to identify the strategies which might be employed to improve the performance of national examinations among students in wards secondary schools. Three methods of data collection which are interviews, FGDs and documentary reviews were employed to collect data from 53 potential respondents. The major findings of the study is that some education stakeholders were found to be satisfied with the contribution given by wards secondary schools in promoting progression of students to next level of study but to lesser extent others were dissatisfied with very few numbers of students who joined the next level of study from 2010-2014 in three wards secondary schools where only 89 (16%) out of 561who sat for CSEE joined advanced level of study which is equal to only 69 (78%) of males and 20 (22%) females students. The study is of the opinion that education stakeholders should ensure conducive teaching and learning environment like presence of enough science teachers, laboratories, and good enumeration of teachers among others in order to experience the desired outcomes. This study however recommends that there should be involvement of all stakeholders in education sector before the implementation of a new education policy for effective results.