Abstract
Abstract
The establishment of private primary schools (PPS) in Tanzania came after the introduction of liberalisation and privatisation policies. However there has been a question on the differences of the quality of education provided by the PPS and Government primary schools (GPS). And therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the differences between the quality of education provided in the GPS and PPS in Tanzania. In this study Open System Theory and Education for Self Reliance Theory were used as the guiding theories to the study.
The study incorporated two primary schools; a private owned with English as the Language of instruction and the second, was the government owned primary school with Kiswahili as the LOI. A qualitative strategy with multiple data collection methods such as face to face interviews with a semi structured form, participant observation, and document analysis was employed. Twenty two participants were involved in the study including six teachers, six parents and ten students.
The study showed a clear difference in the quality of education provided by the PPS and GPS. The PPS which use English as LOI seemed to have better quality of education.The PPS were found to be rich in motivated, quality, skilful and committed teachers, resources and facilities; child centred teaching methods, responsible parents and good learning environment for the students except the outside playgrounds which were inadequate. On the other hand GPS had spacious classrooms as well as playgrounds.
From the results we see that the PPS provide better quality of education as compared to GPS. It is therefore recommended that the government should increase its budget on primary education sector and improve conditions of its schools, value the teachers and improve their working conditions. It should as well have a full control and pay attention on what transpires in PPS.