Students’ access to and participation in extracurricular activities in secondary schools in Tanzania: the case of Dodoma municipality
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Date
2010
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Publisher
University of Dar es Salaam
Abstract
This study investigated the extent to which students access and participate in school-based extracurricular activities. In particular, it attempted to investigate the status of students’ involvement in extracurricular activities, the role of schools in promoting students’ involvement in different forms of out-of-class activities that guarantee lifetime benefits, and the challenges and effects of involving students in the activities. The study employed mainly a qualitative approach informed by the case study design and was complemented by quantitative inquiry. A sample of 218 respondents was obtained through purposive sampling, stratified, simple random sampling and convenience sampling procedures. Data were collected through interviews, questionnaires, document search and observation methods and were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings revealed that there was a limited form of activities which concentrated on sports, and also extracurricular resources were seriously inadequate limiting students’ involvement in the activities. Schools were found to play various roles in promoting extracurricular participation, although the strategies employed were not strong enough in practice to encourage every individual student to be involved in the activities. Different challenges such as negative attitudes towards extracurricular activities were found to affect students’ participation in those activities. Lastly, the respondents viewed the activities as beneficial and the negative effects associated with students’ involvement in them were attributed to lack of seriousness by schools. The study recommends educating the community on the value of extracurricular activities to motivate them to support extracurricular by providing resources, while training programmes for in-service and pre-service teachers on the management of activities need be offered regularly. The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training should provide incentives to supervisors of the activities by reducing teaching workloads, paying extra allowances and instituting policies amenable to schools’ role in provision of activities. Finally, the study recommends further studies on extracurricular activities at other educational levels of study.
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Keywords
Extracurricular activities, Secondary schools, Dodoma municipality, Tanzania
Citation
Japhet, R (2010) Students’ access to and participation in extracurricular activities in secondary schools in Tanzania: the case of Dodoma municipality. Master dissertation, University of Dar es Salaam. Available at http://41.86.178.3/internetserver3.1.2/detail.aspx