Towards understanding people’s trust in local government authorities’ social service provision: the case of education service in Maswa district
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Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
The study aimed at investigating citizens’ trust in local government authorities’ social service provision, the case of education service in Maswa district, Shinyanga region. The study employed descriptive design, together with qualitative and quantitative techniques of data collection. The data collection methods included interviews, questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and documentary evidence. The study also took in a sample of households, village executive officers, ward executive officers, teachers and councilors. Findings of the study show that, despite government initiatives to invest in primary education, there is a high level of distrust of local authorities by citizens, particularly in education, sevirce provision due to the existence of various problems such as high classroom-to-pupil ratio, truancy, limited number of classrooms and teachers’ houses, inadequate number of teachers and teaching facilities. This lowers people’s willingness to play a part in the governance process. Therefore, there is a link between people’s satisfaction with public services and their trust in government. This means that being a consumer of specific public services is less important for people’s level of trust in governmental institutions than their degree of satisfaction with the services provided. Thus, peoples’ participation, responsible and transparent governance is required for the public to remain involved and informed about policy, and an increase in the efficient allocation of resources in both the public and private sectors.
Description
Available in print form, East Africana Collection, Dr. Wilbert Chagula Library, Class Mark (THS EAF HV448.5.T34R34)
Keywords
Social services, Education services, Local government authorities
Citation
Rajabu, D (2009) Towards understanding people’s trust in local government authorities’ social service provision: the case of education service in Maswa district, Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam