Assessing performance of local government authorities in implementing primary education development projects in Tanzania:

Abstract

Despite implementation of education development projects, primary education in Tanzania is facing problems such as shortage of classrooms, desks, textbooks, and shortage of water supply. The general objective of this study was to assess performance Arusha City Council (ACC) in implementation of primary education development projects (PEDPs). Three specific objectives guided this study. They included assessing effectiveness of Arusha City Council in Implementation of Primary Education development projects; to assess efficiency of Arusha City Council in implementation of Primary Education Development Projects; and to determine challenges affecting performance of Arusha City Council in implementation of Primary Education Development Projects. The study applied mixed method approach in data collection and analysis. Descriptive research design was applied to investigate the research problem. The study involved population of 150 government officials from ACC. A sample size of 109 respondents was selected, however only 99 respondents participated in this study. Data were collected through questionnaires and documents. Analysis of primary data was done through frequencies and mean values. Content analysis was applied to secondary analyze secondary data. Findings revealed that ACC is effective in implementation of projects for improving school infrastructure and projects for improving sanitation. It was also indicated that ACC is not effective in implementation of projects for improving literacy rate and ACC never implements projects for improving food security. Findings have further shown that ACC is efficient in terms of allocating adequate time for project implementation, ability to use project finances for intended purpose and ability to use its own sources to implement PEDPs. Findings have also shown that is not efficient in terms of completing implementation of projects on time, and is not efficient in terms of ensuring availability of adequate finances for projects. Findings have shown performance of ACC in implementation of PEDPs is affected by challenges such as misuse of project funds, shortage of funds, delays in disbursement of project funds, lack of autonomy in project implementation and low level of citizens’ participation. This study concludes that Arusha City Council is not effective in implementation of education development projects related to improvement of literacy rate and food security. This situation has negative implications in terms of poor academic performance of students in public primary schools. This study recommends ACC should expand the scope of PEDPs to include projects related to improvement of literacy rate. This should be done by increasing budgets for purchasing textbooks for primary schools. Moreover, projects for improving library facilities for primary schools should be included. This will help to improve quality of education