Corrupt practices in accessing public primary education in Mbarali district, Tanzania

This study explored corruption in accessing public primary education in Mbarali District in Tanzania. Specifically the study sought to: identify the causes of corruption in public primary schools in Mbarali district; explore effects of corruption in access and participation of pupils in primary education in Mbarali district; identify the challenges corrupt practices present in public primary education in Mbarali district; and to suggest possible mitigation strategies to overcome challenges associated with corrupt practices in Mbarali primary schools. The study employed qualitative research approach specifically single case embedded design in collecting, analyzing and interpreting data. The study was conducted in five public primary schools with a total of fifty nine participants. Sample of the study consisted of five heads of schools, fifteen teachers, thirty pupils and nine parents from the selected public primary schools in Mbarali. The samples were obtained through purposive and convenience sampling techniques. Data were generated by using interview, focused group discussion and documentary review. The information and data generated were analyzed by using thematic and content analysis. The study findings revealed that crave, economic problems and little knowledge of corruption in education are the main causes of corruption in public primary schools. The effects of corruption in primary education, as revealed by the study are pupils’ truancy, low teaching and learning morale and unequal access to teaching and learning resources. The main challenge which is posed by corrupt practices is pupils’ truancy, shortage of teachers, teaching and learning resources and unequal treatment of pupils which leads to poor quality outputs. It was suggested that, enforcing rules and regulations that deal with corrupt practices would be one of the measures to mitigate the effects of corruption in primary schools. Basing on the findings, the study recommended; the review of teachers’ salaries so that they become competitive with the real life needs and costs; rules and regulations should be adhered in managing teachers allocation, deployment, and transfer; and education on awareness on the right to education among teachers and community would be enhanced to help ease elimination of corruption problem in public primary schools and improve accessibility of primary education to all school-age children in the district and possibly elsewhere.