The implementation of public private partnership (PPP) policy in the provision of preprimary education in Lindi municipality, Tanzania.

Over the past two decades, there has been high emphasis on the involvement of the private sector in provision of services including education. This study investigated on how the public and private sectors participate in the provision of pre-primary education in Lindi Municipality in Tanzania. The study had three objectives: (i) To assess the existing public private partnership policy in provision of pre-primary education, (ii) To examine the engagement of public and private partners in provision of pre-primary education and, (iii) To identify the challenges facing public and private partners in provision of pre-primary education. Qualitative research approach with a single embedded case study design was employed. The study used a criterion purposive sampling techniques to obtain thirteen (13) participants made up of Education Officer, Head Teachers and Pre- primary Teachers and two (2) private primary school. Purposeful random sampling was used to select four (4) public primary school. Data were collected using interviews and documentary review methods and analysed using Miles and Huberman’s 1994 qualitative data analysis framework. The findings revealed that: (i) Public Private Partnership policy is not well implemented in pre-primary education; the approach used is that of encouraging and persuading the private partners to invest in provision of pre-primary education, (ii) Very little is known on how PPP policy works in pre-primary education sector because teachers as implementers were unaware of the partnership that exists, (iii) In spite of the introduction of pre-primary classes in all public primary schools, nothing has been revealed on how this crucial education level is provided through public private partnership, rather than a mere presence of private pre-primary and unregistered centres which provide such service, (iv) Studied private schools depended on parents’ monetary contributions to provide pre-primary education while public schools depended on the primary school capitation grants, (v) The mode of assessment used by studied private schools did not comply with the set 2016 pre-primary curriculum, and (vi) The studied public and private partners were confronted with overcrowd classes, insufficient teaching and learning materials, shortage of qualified pre-primary teachers and lack of fund for public schools, the latter were challenged with high interest rates in financial institutions, prolonged procedures for school registration, poor integration of theory into practice, lack of support from the government. The study concluded that, PPP policy is not implemented at pre-primary school level due to lack of sufficient information on policy directives. The study recommends that, the roles of PPP should be clearer by ensuring that, all implementers are aware of the policy directives for effective and efficient implementation of the educational goals and objectives for the benefit of all stakeholders. Similarly, there is the need to create an enabling environment to attract more investors in pre-primary education.