School management capacity for teacher professional development in Tanzania: a case of Para-professional teachers in complementary basic education centres in Misungwi District, Mwanza Region

The general objective of the study was to find out the extent of capacity of school management for teacher professional development in COBET centres. Specifically the researcher explored teachers' perceptions of teacher professional development examined school management capacity to provide support for teacher professional development in COBET centres, and analysed factors, which influenced teacher professional development in COBET centres. The study was done in Misungwi district where 10 COBET centres were purposively belated and 76 respondents in COBET programme participated. The Data collection techniques used included interview, observation and documentary analysis, which were effected through the use of research instruments such interview questions, observation and documentary review schedules and questionnaires. Study findings revealed that paraprofessional teachers involved in the study perceived TPD positively and see it as a good idea, however the opportunities for professional] growth in the COBET centres were very limited. Furthermore, findings revealed that the capacity of school management to support COBET centres including paraprofessional teachers is low because of financial constraints. It was observed that the central government did not budget for COBET activities in the centres. This also affects professional development of paraprofessional teachers. Factors such as medium of instruction, conducive teaching/learning environments, ability of learners to take their own initiatives to learn and being able to employ different learning techniques affected the ability of Para-professional teachers to provide quality teaching and learning. In light of these findings several recommendations were made such as provision of adequate physical recourse, regular training for Para-Professional teachers as well as the need for COBET stakeholders to provide support for TPD in COBET centres.