August 26, 2015
The Foundation For Tomorrow carefully avoids complacency. Our inquisitive minds, collaborative efforts, and ambitious nature propel us to new heights. We are now piloting a new research project to test the effectiveness of co-management as a strategy to improve the quality of education in Tanzania. Once again we are grateful to our partner WaterBridge Outreach because it was their donation of resources to Sinai Primary School that triggered this pilot.
TFFT has always recognized that one-off support does not lead to sustainable change. Generators fail; feet outgrow shoes; books are meaningless to the illiterate. The idea of co-management takes TFFT’s Teacher and School Management Training to the next level. We are on a quest for sustainable excellence in Tanzania’s government schools so that all children have access to the quality education they deserve. You can read my comprehensive Co-Management Baseline Report here. Otherwise, I will provide an overview below.
Research Purpose
Specifically we aim to demonstrate whether co-management of a rural public-primary school produces positive outcomes on teaching and learning practices, student performance, stakeholder accountability, and sustainable community social action.
Key Research Questions
We aim to answer the following:
- How and in what ways does co-management influence teacher motivation and practices to teaching and learning?
- How does stakeholders in a co-management framework respond to equitable inclusion, and does these responses, if at all, engender partner accountability and sustainable social action on school improvement, student attendance and retention in school?
- How does co-management contribute to improvement in student performance?
- What are the key lessons that are learned by the multiple-partners in a co-management framework through action research, and with what implications to future co-management initiatives of public primary schools in Tanzania?
Methodology
The design of the research is based on shared accountability and management by a group of selected partners. These partners each have specific roles to play in management of one public school, the treatment school. They will each add individual experiences, knowledge, views, and perspectives in the conduct of their duties. They will come together to work towards a shared goal of molding the treatment school into a center of excellence that is nationally recognized as a best performing public school.
Treatment and comparison
Sinai Primary School was chosen as the treatment school. Lendoiya Primary School was chosen as the best control school based on the similarity of characteristics that it exhibited with Sinai.
Key characteristics of Sinai primary school and the community
Sinai primary school is situated in Miririny village of Leguruki ward in Meru district of Arusha region. The community has roughly 112 households. The incomes of the households are relatively low and they are burdened already by the required contributions for construction of community projects. The student population in the school is currently 212 composed of 105 boys and 107 girls. For these 212 students there are only 6 classrooms and 5 teachers.
The community is hilly; relatively drier compared to the lower villages and has a persistent water problem. Water is available in the school twice a week mostly during the rainy season, and the school water harvesting tank is too small to cater for the needs of students and teachers. This forces students during the dry season to venture some 10KM during class/school hours to Ngarenanyuki to fetch water for use in the school.
In May 2015, thanks to WaterBridge Outreach, the school received learning and teaching materials, furniture (student desks, teacher chairs, book shelves, cupboards), and sports equipment (balls, jerseys, nets, skipping rope etc). This additional support from WaterBridge’s collaboration with TFFT satisfied the needs for furniture and greatly supported the need for teaching and learning materials.
The Beginnings
We introduced the co-management concept to Sinai Primary School management with the recognition that one-off support to the school will not contribute to sustainable school performance.
Co-Management task-force
We formed a co-management task-force charged with coordinating together to achievement the vision. The team includes: The District Education Officer; The District Primary School Inspector; The Village Chairperson; The Chair of Sinai School Committee; The Head-Teacher of Sinai, and The Country Director of TFFT.
Baseline analyses and validation by task-force
The baseline data for school performance and teacher motivation were entered in SPSS and analyzed, while the narratives were analyzed manually. These data were compared for Sinai primary and Lendoiya primary to assess how homogenous the two schools are to enable future comparisons. The findings were presented back to the task-force by the facilitator with the objective to discuss findings and provide answers from their experiences to clarify context and to prioritize the needs and actions of the task-force in lieu of the findings.
So far we have learned:
- There is a palpable readiness of the community through the local leadership to participate in the co-management process towards achieving the vision developed for Sinai.
- The development of the school vision has raised expectations of the community and increased their interest to participate and support it being obtained
- Improved performance in Sinai increases the number of new students seeking to join the school as well as a trigger to teacher motivation and commitment.
- Availability of teaching and learning materials, and indeed furniture is a key motivation to student learning, teachers’ passion [working over weekends] and community commitment.
- The formation of the co-management task-force with requisite roles and responsibilities strengthens joint accountability especially of the government officials who want to be seen to deliver on their roles.