Abstracts Education

Assessment of the Community Perceptions on Open Schooling System in Tanzania: Empirical Experience from Mbeya.

by Shukuru Oswald Mwachande

This study was intended to analyze the community perception on open schooling system was conducted in Mbeya city council, Mbeya region. The study involved four OSS centres, 4 heads of the OSS centres, 6 teachers, 61 students, 10 parents and 4 education officers. The study applied a qualitative approach with interviews and Focus Group discussion as methods for data collection methods. The study found that the main conception of the people on the meaning of OSS as the type of schools where majority of people who missed formal schooling opportunities. It was further revealed that the community experience that there are both good and bad things in OSS. The study also discovered that there are policy guidelines. The guidelines include standards in student registration, centres settings, environments, infrastructures, teaching and learning resources availability and quality, teacher qualification as well as general management of the schools. The future trends of the OSS are believed to continue expansion is enrolment, centres and technology in the OSS learning. Based on the perceptions revealed by the findings, the study recommends that, government should improve the policy guideline geared at overseeing the implementation of OSS programmes. Finally, the study recommends that the OSS administrators should mobilize resources from various stakeholders to cater to the constant changes in information and communications technology so as not to compromise on the quality of delivery of the OSS programme. Keywords: Open Schools, open and distance education, adult education, community perceptions, community experiences, policy guidelines