Assessing capacity of school committees in enhancing quality education in public primary schools: the case of ilala municipality

This study aimed at assessing the capacity of committee members in enhancing quality education in public primary schools in Ilala Municipality in Dar es Salaam region. The study was guided by four research objectives: to investigate the level of understanding of the concept of quality education among committee members; to assess the awareness of school committee members on their roles and responsibilities; to explore power vested in school committee members; and to assess the profile of school committee members. The study was guided by context, Input, Process, Output model adapted from (Stufflebeam and Shinkfield (2007). Six public primary schools were sampled. The study involved 68 informants comprising 6 head teachers, 6 school committee chair persons, 44 school committee members, and 12 teachers’ representatives. The study was qualitative supplemented by simple numerical elements. It was a case study design. Methods used to select the respondents were purposive and simple random. Data were collected through interviews, focus group discussions, documentary reviews, and observations. Content analysis was used in qualitative data analysis, while quantitative data were calculated manually and presented in tabular form. The findings revealed that the capacity of school committee members particularly in Ilala municipality was satisfactory since they had resolute impact in enhancing quality education. Majority had enough knowledge about quality education; they were aware on the roles and responsibilities and power vested in them regarding decision making. They were satisfied and cooperated with other members from related fields of education. However, they were hardly involved in planning especially in the first stage of planning particularly needs assessment. There was also gender imbalance as men outnumbered women. It was concluded that the capacity of school committee members in Ilala Municipality was adequate since most of researched questions and its assumptions showed significant in understanding quality education, their involvement, and level of education despite those shortcoming mentioned above.The study recommends frequent seminars and workshops for building awareness of the importance of quality education among school committee members; school committees should plan different strategies for raising school funds, Cross-cutting issues should be an important agenda in any school committee meetings; school plans need to be identified in a participatory manner between school committee members and teachers; election of committee members need to take into account gender balance, and a more direct link needs to be established between school management and municipal officials.