Utility of total quality management in enhancing the provision of quality education in public secondary schools in mtwara, Tanzania

This study aimed at exploring the utility of Total Quality Management (TQM) in enhancing the provision of quality secondary education in Mtwara Municipality. It involved four objectives: to examine the practices of secondary school administrators in applying TQM principles to manage the provision of secondary education; to identify the contribution of TQM principles application in enhancing the quality of secondary education provided; to identify the challenges of applying TQM principles in enhancing the provision of quality secondary education; and to find out ways of addressing the challenges of applying TQM principles in enhancing the provision of quality secondary education. The study employed a mixed methods approach with concurrent embedded research design. It involved 102 respondents, constituting of one MSEO, six heads of school, nine school board members, 50 teachers and 36 students. The respondents were selected through simple random sampling, stratified sampling and purposive sampling while data were collected through questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions and documentary review. The collected data were analysed by using descriptive statistics and content analysis whereby simple descriptive statistics were used to generate the frequencies and percentages of respondents’ opinions. It was found out that the TQM principles such as; creating constancy of purpose, adopting a new philosophy(customer satisfaction), ceasing dependency on mass inspection, constantly improving the process, institute training, break-down barriers among staff, recognition, organisational-wise involvement and putting everyone in the organisation to work to accomplish the transformation were applied in public secondary schools. The application of TQM principles contributed to improved academic performance, improved teaching and learning methodologies to science teachers, common understanding towards the school focus, cooperation between teachers, commitment and accountability. Moreover, there were numerous challenges that school administrators encountered when applying TQM principles such as poor planning, inadequate funds, shortage of science teachers, scarcity of teaching and learning resources, poor motivation, poor parent support, and lack of in-service training to teachers. These challenges can be addressed through provision of training and seminars to teachers on TQM practices, provision of enough funds, effective communication practices, and provision of education awareness to parents. Basing on these findings in this particular study, it is concluded that, TQM is critical to enable effective teaching and learning for QSE provision in Tanzania since the quality of education is a very important tool toward sustainable development of any community. Therefore, it is recommended that school administrators and all education officials should be provided with the knowledge of TQM principles so that they become aware of their applicability in schools and respond accordingly in order to improve the quality of education in Tanzania. A similar study also should be done in other regions and/or in other levels of education to assess the applicability of TQM principles for comparative purposes.A comparative study between public and private schools should also be done to assess the applicability of the TQM principles to see why most of the private schools perform better than public schools.