Factors contributing to poor performance in education at primary school level in Shinyanga region: A case study of Shinyanga rural district

This study investigated the factors which contributed to the poor performance in education at primary school level in Shinyanga region. The main objective was to establish which were the main factors, and suggest ways to alleviate the situation. Special emphasis was laid on those factors related to the role of parents and the community. Three specific objectives and four research questions guided the study. The study was conducted in Shinyanga region, Shinyanga Rural District being the case study area. A sample size of 150 respondents was purposively drawn. This comprised of pupils, teachers, head teachers, headmasters, parents, community members, school committee members, village government leaders, religious/political leaders, businessmen/women, NGOs leaders, and education and government officials. Descriptive design approaches were used in the study. Four data collection instruments were used: interview guides, questionnaires, focus group discussion guide and participatory observations. Data collected were both qualitatively and quantitatively presented and analyzed. Findings of the study indicated seven factors that contributed to the poor performance of education at primary school level in the region. The most serious factor identified was the role and attitude of parents and the community towards education. The focus group discussions revealed that education was their third priority. Most of the respondents had low levels of education, (72 percent) had primary education. The illiteracy rate for the region was 33 percent. It was further revealed that most parents were not against the idea of sending their children to school but do not see the school as their immediate answer to the prevailing state of continued hunger and poverty. Study findings also revealed that Shinyanga region has good plans and strategies towards the alleviation of the problem of poor performance in primary schools, but the pace of implementation is slow. In Shinyanga Rural District, only 55 percent of set plans and strategies had been implemented by the year 2002. Within these plans, the role of parents and the community has not been clearly indicated. There are also several suggestions which have been put forward by the respondents themselves on what need to be done to promote education standards for primary schools in their region. In view of the findings and conclusions of the study, the researcher recommends teamwork approaches by all stakeholders to mobilize and create awareness on the importance of education, especially during this era of globalization to the parents and the community. Parents should be persuaded to educate children and that it is worth sacrificing. Collectively, stakeholders should also fight for the creation of enabling environment for effective implementation of the set plans and strategies. Lastly but not least, the researcher suggests that further inquiries should be carried out to cover more districts and schools in the region and longitudinal studies be done to examine improvement.