Impact of School Feeding on Student Attendance in Secondary School: A case of Kiteto District in Tanzanian

This study assessed the impact of school feeding programme on students’ attendance in Tanzanian public secondary schools of in Kiteto District, Manyara Region. The study was guided by four specific objectives: describing the effectiveness of school feeding programme; assessing the influence of parental economic status on school meals; determining the challenges facing school feeding programme; and evaluating the contribution of school management in school feeding programme in Kiteto district. The study used mixed method approach which is combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches. However, the study was more qualitative in nature. It employed survey and case study designs. A number of 85 respondents were sampled from the total population in the area, through simple random, purposive and convenience sampling techniques. The study revealed that school feeding programmes are effective means of attracting students to attend school. Likewise the study found that the parents were willing to contribute some amount of money in the school feeding despite economic hardship they had. Moreover, the study has revealed that the challenges of school feeding are social, economic and political. The government contributes a small amount on this programme and also because of economic hardship of parents. Another challenge observed is participation of school management team in ensuring presence and management of school food. The study has concluded that school feeding programmes have positive impact on students’ school attendance. This has been so due to the increased enrolment and decrease of students’ dropout and truancy. The study calls upon the establishment of strong network system of educational stakeholders under the coordination of government and having responsible leaders in the entire educational sector