The Effect of School Boards Decision Making on Managing Students Discipline in Government Secondary Schools in Lake Victoria Zone, Tanzania

Decision making of all kinds in schools is the aspect that maximizes the attainment of educational goals. However, not at all times, decisions lead to fruitful results. This study investigated the effects of the School Boards’ decision making on managing students’ discipline in government secondary schools in Lake Victoria Zone, Tanzania. This end was fulfilled by four objectives namely: to explore the dominant students’ indiscipline behaviour, to examine the effect of communication methods, to evaluate the extent to which School Boards follow the regulations in rational decision making procedures and to examine the effect of School Boards’ decisions on the school climate. The study variables were mainly grounded from the Rational Decision Making Model. The study employed mixed methods and cross-sectional survey design. The sample comprised of 120 secondary school teachers, 80 members of the School Boards, 20 Heads of Schools, 20 chairpersons of the School Boards and 62 parents. Data collection tools were questionnaires, semi-structured interview and documents guides. The study findings revealed that truancy and pregnancy were dominant students’ problems of indiscipline. It was also learned that there was an over-reliance on written letters as a method of communication on students discipline matters. Furthermore, it was found that despite the disparities (e.g., inconsistence done by school board in decision making against dictates disciplinary regulations and contravention of some regulations) in decisions, some schools partly demonstrated the rationality and had significant effect on students’ discipline. The study thus suggests a number of proactive decision making modes rather than reactive one for effective decision making procedures on managing student discipline in government secondary schools