Abstract:
The main objective of this study was to analyze the quality of education of secondary schools
established under Secondary Education Development Program (SEDP) in comparison to private
schools in Karagwe District. Specifically, the study determined the perception of community
members (students, teachers, and parents) toward public ward secondary schools; also a
comparison of academic performance between public ward and private secondary schools in rural
and urban areas was made. Teaching practices and environment that promote quality of education
in schools were also examined. It was an exploratory study which used a cross-sectional approach.
The study was carried under two phases. Phase one of the study involved pilot study and the second
phase involved structured questionnaire surveys which used as the major tool for data collection.
Other instruments used were interview and observation schedules, likert scale, Focus Group
Discussion (FGDs) checklist and documentary review. The study was carried in eight secondary
schools purposefully selected out of 46 secondary schools in Karagwe District. Four of the selected
schools were under SEDP while the other four were private schools. It involved 377 respondents
who were purposefully and randomly sampled. The Statistical Package for Social Science was
used to analyze quantitative data whereas Content Analysis was used for qualitative data. The
study reveals that all community members (students, teachers and parents) had positive attitude toward ward secondary schools. The study findings reveal that the quality of education in public
ward and private secondary schools was relatively poor. However, the study reveals that active
and participatory teaching and learning methods were not frequently used, in all schools. The
study also highlighted teaching environment for improving the provision of quality education.
Finally, the study highlighted practical recommendations on different educational stakeholders.
