Kolloquium

In education, quality is the desirable end result or outcome, usually measured as students’ performance in achievement tests and national examinations. It can be contributed by several things such as: quality of teachers, availability of teaching and learning materials, accommodation, food provision, and time used in class and in extracurricular activities (Mosha, 2006).

Quality management is the act of overseeing all activities and tasks needed to maintain a desired level of excellence. It includes creating and implementing quality planning and assurance, as well as quality control and quality improvement. It is also referred to as Total Quality Management (TQM). It is a relatively new concept, which is regarded as a ‘first course’ approach to quality assurance, as it approaches the issue of quality from many angles (Arcaro, 1995). When it comes to education: it means creating an environment where educators, parents, government officials, community representatives and business leaders work together to provide students with the resources they need to meet current and future academic, business and societal needs (Tribus, 1993). In recent years, there has been more recognition at the level of decision making in Tanzania and other developing countries that, given the obvious constraints to expanding public education mainly at secondary level, private school education is being viewed as complementary to public.

The purpose of this study was therefore to compare management of educational quality in public and private secondary schools under Secondary Education Development Plan Phase II (SEDP II) in Morogoro Region. The specific objectives were (i) to assess schools educational quality management based on educational input under SEDP II for years 2010 to 2013. (ii) to examine schools educational quality management based on students’ academic performance (output) under SEDP II for years 2010 to 2013. (ii) to assess effectiveness of public and private Secondary Schools management tasks. (iv) to identify factors influencing students’ academic performance in public and private secondary schools in the study area.

Data were collected from 400 respondents: including 320 students, 80 teachers and 20 key informants using questionnaires, researcher’s diary and checklist. Quantitative data will be analysed by using SPSS computer software and “content analysis technique” will be used to analyse qualitative data.