Utilization of educational research findings in education policy formulation in Tanzania.

Educational researches of all types come out with some findings which are useful in the formulation of education policy. Utilization of those educational research findings can improve quality of education policy making. The purpose of this study was to find out the extent to which education policy makers and planners in Tanzania utilize educational research findings in education policy formulation. The study was guided by educational research education policy - development model and three research tasks, namely finding out educational research findings conducted in Tanzania during the last ten years (1985-1994), finding out the problems education policy makers face in utilizing educational research findings policy in formulation and ways of overcoming those problems. The study was conducted in Dar es Salaam specifically at the University of Dar es Salaam, Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education and Culture and Donor agencies' offices. The review of literature consisted of introduction, theoretical stances, empirical studies and synthesis. Two sampling techniques were employed. These were purposive sampling and stratified sampling. The data was collected through interviews, checklist and documentary reviews. The findings of the study revealed that educational research findings were used in formulating education policy in Tanzania. It was further indicated that commission and contract research findings are the mostly used ones. It was also revealed that education policy makers face problems such as lack of expertise to interpret research findings, bureaucracy, funds and time pressure in utilizing educational research findings in formulating education policy. It was recommended that provision of training in educational research to policy makers, participatory research, strengthening linkage between the Ministry of Education and Culture, Institute of Curriculum Development, National Examination Council and Universities dissemination of research results and establishment of research information data base would increase the use of research in policy formulation. The study also recommended further research especially on the ways of establishing means for documentation and dissemination of research findings, studying the effectiveness of participatory research and conducting education policy research.