Empirical Analysis of the Inequality in Quality of Education

Abstract

There has been an expansion in the number Q/ secondary schools in Tanzania, both private and public being the results of adoption of new policies since the mid 1980s. Non-government schools increased quickly in the 1980's due to excess demand while the public sector expanded sharply in tic 2000's because of the political ideology of government in power. Sharp growth of public schools, which were built jointly by community and the government, affects the learning environment and effectiveness of the new schools. This paper analyses the inequality of inequality in education quality in Kilimanjaro region. The analysis makes the use of performance differences in secondary schools. Performance was measured in terms of national examination results. The study makes the use of form four national examinations in 2008. The paper uses types of school, location of school and students-teachers ratio as independent variables explaining the valuations of schools’ performances. The Performance is measured as the percentage of students who got division 1, 2 and 3. The assumption was that under normal circumstances healthy performance is in private schools. Furthermore, this is found in low students-teachers ratio and urban schools. The study demonstrates that the private schools are two times better than public schools in form four national examinations Performance. The study revealed that community secondary schools are worse than any other type of schools. Location and students-teachers ratio were likewise found to be contributing factors to the Performance gap in secondary schools. Increasing the number of schools for the sake of increasing access to education might not be proper decision but now the government must expand expenditure on education to ensure high quality of education in public schools. Improvement should focus on the teachers' working conditions and Larning environment for students especially in community secondary schools which offer 70 percent of enrolments.