Browsing by Author "Pori, Mathias"

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    The Power of school committees in managing capitation grants allocated to primary schools in ubungo municipality, Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2019) Pori, Mathias
    This study examined the power of school committees in managing capitation grants allocated to primary schools in Ubungo Municipality, Tanzania. The study aimed to accomplish three specific objectives which were to explore the involvement primary school committees in managing capitation grants, examine primary school committee members' perceptions on power sharing in managing capitation grants and examine the challenges facing primary school committees in managing capitation grants. The study was guided by the Empowerment Theory (Peters, 1989) and Social Power Theory (Turner, 2005).The study adopted qualitative research approach informed by multiple case holistic research design. The target population for the study were School Committee Members (SCMs), Head Teachers (HTs), Ward Education Officers (WEOs), the District Primary Education Officer (DPEO) and the District Education Quality Assurer (DEQA). A sample of 50 research participants was used to provide data, namely 36 SCMs, 6 HTs, 6 WEOs, 1 DPEO and 1 DEQA who were selected through purposive and stratified sampling techniques. Research data were collected through semi-structured and documentary review methods, and they were subject thematic data analysis procedures. The findings revealed that school committees were not involved in planning, budgeting and monitoring the use of capitation grants in schools; they were only involved in supervising school procurements, construction and maintenance activities. Also, the findings revealed that school committees had no power in making decisions regarding the use of capitation grants in schools. Moreover, the findings portrayed that school committees' members had varied perceptions on the concept of power sharing in the management of capitation grants and had little understanding of that concept. Furthermore, the findings revealed that the main challenges facing school committees' members in the management of capitation grants were lack of enough training on financial management affairs, limited power for making decisions on the use of capitation grants in schools, failure to attend school committees' meetings and lack of guiding manuals on financial management in schools. However, provision of training on financial management, provision of guidelines on managing the use of capitation grants, provision of allowances during school committees' official meetings and strengthening school committees members' decision making power in managing capitation grants were suggested as appropriate measures for mitigating the aforesaid challenges. The study concluded that primary school committees had limited power in the management of capitation grants, most school committees' members had no awareness about power sharing in the management of capitation grants, and school committees' members face a number of challenges in managing capitation grants. The study recommended for the involvement of school committees in the preparation of transparency and accountability mechanisms for using capitation grants, provision of decision making power to school committees for allocating, reallocating and monitoring the use of capitation grants and provision of regular training to school committees' members improve their efficiency and performance in the management of capitation grants. It also recommended for provision of allowances to school committees' members as well as provision of clear lines of responsibilities and autonomy to school committees on the management of capitation grants.