Contribution of School Boards in Managing Community Secondary School in Tanzania

The general purpose of this study was to investigate community secondary school boards’ contribution in managing community secondary schools in Tanzania, taking Rombo District as a case study. The study was conducted in Rombo District, Kilimanjaro Region. The study adopted the mixed approach which used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. The population of the study was 48 schools from which 10 schools were sampled and a total of 215 respondents were selected. Data were analyzed using SPSS in reporting school boards contribution or not. Inductive thematic analysis was also employed for qualitative data analysis. Emerging themes were interpreted through an in depth evidence based discussion. Research findings reveal that a good number of teacher participants (81.5%) were aware of the existence of school boards in their schools. They reported that the local school boards are a critical public link to community secondary schools. A good number of teacher participants (81.5%) acknowledged that school boards have a significant contribution to the development of community secondary schools. The study found a number of challenges encountered by school. The challenges ranged from lack of funds, poor cooperation from the community and political interferences. The study concludes that school boards are central to the leadership and management of community secondary schools in Rombo district because they play a significant role to the development of those schools. The District Education Officers, the community secondary school boards, school heads, key staff and influential stakeholders in the communities have the capacity to develop and articulate schools’ visions and sets of practices in order to collectively manage community secondary schools