The effectiveness of school inspectorate in improving teacher quality: a case study of English language teaching in secondary schools

This study is a response to the Government's assumptions that the School Inspectorate in Tanzanian, has been effective enough to improve the quality of education in the country, Based on these assumptions, the Government has decided to expand school Inspection and give it better facilities in order to make it pore effective. An evaluative study was conducted in order to find out whether these assumptions were true or not; bearing in mind that the inspectorate was now more than 10 years old since its re-formation in 1978. The purpose of the study was to assess the extent to which it has been effective in raising the quality of teachers in schools. The study limited itself to English language teaching in Secondary Schools in the Central Zone.Using questionnaires, interviews schedules and documentary analyses, relevant information was collected from Secondary School teachers, Heads of Schools and School Inspectors. The study revealed that teachers faced many problems in teaching English Language. It was also revealed that the inspectors' advice and recommendations helped to solve most of the teachers' problems and as such the inspectorate should be expanded to allow longer and frequent school inspection.