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The Opportunities of a Futuristic Private Secondary School Management

System in Tanzania

Francis Samwel Mwilafi

Ruaha Catholic Univeristy, Iringa, Tanzania, Tanzania

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.910000683

Received: 20 July 2025; Accepted: 26 July 2025; Published: 21 November 2025

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the opportunities to fill the demands of the contemporary futuristic school in the context of

a developing nation. Qualitative approaches were used to collect data that answered a primary research question;

“What are the opportunities available for strengthening the management system of private secondary schools in

Iringa Region, Tanzania?”. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from school managers, head

teachers, teachers, and parents that were purposefully selected, while focus group discussions were administered

to students in private secondary schools. The findings indicated that among the several opportunities available,

strategic geographic location of a school, and creation of better learning space and time, are key to enrolling an

adequate number of students, and enable the teachers and learners to do better in a teaching and learning process.

School management systems performance depended on the user-fees; therefore, high enrolment rates were

related to fiscal power for survival and sustainability of private schools. While the school community support

offers school capacity to implement the education curriculum, differentiated supervision of teachers assures the

expected school academic achievements. Nonetheless, good country policies favoring private players investing

in secondary education services, and availability of higher learning institutions to absorb adequate number of

secondary school graduates offer an advantage to investors in the private secondary school sector. The findings

have also indicated that adequacy of the school supplies and capacity to remunerate teachers depends on the

number of students enrolled in a school year. Some recommendations are suggested for practices and further

research.

Keywords: Futuristic private secondary school, opportunities, Policies for investment in education, school

community support, higher education institutions, differentiated supervision.

INTRODUCTION

A revolutionary contemporary school swims in the age of advancement of science and technology imposing

staffs on innovative improvisations in teaching and learning, administration of education, and management of

schools. Scientific and technological inventions in education become the heart of the techniques in paradigm

shifts and experiences for teachers and learners. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the fourth industrial

revolution (4

IR) for instance is the major characteristic of the gears for transforming methodologies from

ordinary to state-of-the-art hi-tech applications in teaching and learning processes on one and. On the other hand,

administration and management of schools are similarly geared to unique operational mechanisms assuring

effectiveness and efficiency in running the schools. One envisioning such school settings, appraises the

applications of the specific software in school operations for instance, among others conference platforms such

as Zoom, Google meets, and WeChat, and real-time virtual session through soft class labs such as Moodle, MLS,

etc. for teaching and learning spaces, which is a stage next to the traditional ICT equipment use in physical

classrooms (Bihu, 2022).In the same vein, innovations in management that upgrade the managerial practices to

rely on the Management Information System (MIS) software for instance simplifies the management tasks to

draw more effectiveness and efficiency.

Such applications signal that the revolution in management and teaching paradigms is inevitable in the pursuit

to match with global education standards. Planners in private education institutions are obliged to revolutionize

their thinking to match with new forms of operations, i.e., a shift from the traditional physical to virtual and

hybrid class arrangements. The futuristic school settings allow the school managements to run the education

programmes in physical separation-cum-online connections.

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Innovations in the proper management system of private schools guarantee success. The system entails all types

of school mechanisms used in implementing effective and efficient teaching and learning activities. It

encompasses the whole effort the school management takes to integrate all necessary inputs (i.e., human and

material resources) and process them into high-quality education service provision for the school as an output

(Alsammarry et al., 2016).

The need for high-quality education is grounded in the understanding that education is key to human social and

economic development. In response to this need, various international and national agendas have been

formulated to strengthen education quality. First, the Jomtien Declaration on Education for All (1990) affirmed

that everyone has the right to education, implying that every government must ensure access to education for all

eligible learners (UNESCO, 1994). However, the adoption of this declaration by national governments has not

fully addressed the issues of exclusion and marginalization, particularly among learners from underprivileged

families. Children from poor households still lack access to quality education. In particular, low-income

countries (LICs) have often failed to meet the targets set forth by such global declarations.

Evidence shows that a majority of children in these countries are unable to access quality schooling, and many

communities experience high rates of adult illiteracy. This is characterized by limited access to printed

knowledge, new skills, and technologies necessary to improve living standards (Zua, 2021; Mmasa & Anney,

2016; UNESCO, 1994). A key implication of these facts lies in the inadequacy of local policy responses—though

they align with the declarations’ objectives, they often fall short in implementation due to limited capacity (Zua,

2021; Mmasa & Anney, 2016).

Second, the Dakar Framework for Action (2000) was introduced to renew governments’ commitments to

achieving education for all through clearly defined goals and strategies (World Education Forum, 2000).

Despite these challenges, the education sectors in LICs still have opportunities to enhance their financial capacity

through partnerships with other stakeholders, the adoption of innovative pedagogical models and curricula, and

the strengthening of institutional mechanisms to meet growing demands. The private sector plays a critical role

in delivering education services, especially where public institutions lack sufficient capacity to provide high-

quality education to all learners. In fact, many governments with limited financial resources have increasingly

involved the private sector in delivering educational services to communities. This trend stems from the

persistent inability of public institutions to accommodate all eligible students—particularly at the secondary

education level. For decades, access to education has remained a significant challenge in most LICs, with public

systems often constrained in their ability to serve every learner.

Recent education trends show that many high-income countries (HICs) and low-income countries (LICs) are

increasingly seeking private-public partnerships (PPPs) to share education costs and improve their capacity to

provide quality services to all learners (Kivenule, 2015). In European countries, for instance, private entities

such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and philanthropic enterprises participate in both funding and

managing schools (OECD, 2012). While some countries have formalized various forms of PPPs, others have

encouraged private sector involvement in education service provision by individuals and organizations acting

independently.

Part of the rationale for broadening the responsibility of education beyond governments is to provide greater

choice for parents and students, and to stimulate creativity and innovation within schools. This has served as a

remedy to curb student exclusion, particularly in contexts where governments and public institutions are unable

to ensure access to secondary education for all eligible students. Nevertheless, education and school management

systems in LICs generally operate under significant fiscal and managerial limitations (Kivenule, 2015).

Despite these efforts, financially privileged families in OECD countries tend to send their children to privately

managed schools more often than low-income families (OECD, 2012). One of the key reasons for this is the

widespread belief that private schools offer better education, a more conducive learning environment, additional

resources, and superior policies and practices compared to public schools. Such parents are often better informed

or more aware of quality differences among schools.

A similar trend has been observed in Tanzania over the past two decades. Many parents prefer enrolling their

children in expensive private schools, opting out of government-run fee-free schools. Several explanations for

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this behavior align with findings from European countries. For example, the Programme for International Student

Assessment (PISA) results indicate that, in most countries, privately managed schools tend to have greater

autonomy, better resources, and higher performance on the PISA reading scale than publicly managed schools

(OECD, 2012). Well-managed private schools also have effective systems for tracking and reporting students’

academic performance.

Moreover, many private secondary schools have significantly improved their facilities and are widely perceived

to outperform public schools in terms of academic results, according to global trends (CEP, 2007; Chimombo,

2009; Chudgar & Quin, 2012; Day-Ashley, 2009). As a result, demand for private education has surged, with

many schools charging high fees—yet financially capable parents continue to choose them, even in the presence

of free public education (Mays, 2013). The increase in demand and enrollment in these private schools,

particularly in Tanzania, has created pressure on available resources, contributing to variation in academic

performance among private schools in national examinations.

Problem statement

Despite the significant contribution of private secondary schools to education service provision, little effort has

been made to improve management systems within these schools (Alsammarry et al., 2016). The central question

that emerges is how innovations in school management systems can create opportunities for investors in the

education sector. Many private school establishments do not adequately strategize or adopt innovations that

could enhance their management systems and address persistent challenges.

Moreover, there is a notable gap in existing research concerning how available opportunities can be leveraged

to develop private secondary schools, particularly within the Tanzanian context. As such, this study focuses on

an extensive examination of the management systems of private ordinary-level secondary schools, as well as the

opportunities available to them in the provision of education services in Tanzania.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of the study is to examine the opportunities for innovations to strengthen the private secondary

schools’ management systems in Tanzania.

Research questions

The study is guided by the following research question: What are the opportunities available for strengthening

the management system of private secondary schools in Iringa Region, Tanzania?

BRIEF LITERATURE REVIEW

This section presents the integrated theoretical approach to the study of the private school management systems,

and empirical review on the opportunities for strengthening by innovating the private secondary schools’

management systems.

Integrated theoretical approach

The integrated theoretical approach employed in this study combines the Classical Organizational Management

Theory (COMT), the New Public Management (NPM) model, and the Cybernetic School Model (CSM) to frame

and interpret the findings under the guiding research question. This integration aims to explain opportunities for

innovation in private school management systems.

The COMT, developed in the first half of the 20th century by Max Weber, focuses on formal organizational

structures and principles designed to improve managerial efficiency (Schroeder, 1998). It encompasses key

components from scientific management, bureaucratic management, and administrative theory. The model is

built upon six core elements: division of labour, departmentalization, coordination, scalar chain and functional

processes, organizational structure, and span of control. In this framework, private schools are structured

hierarchically, with work responsibilities clearly divided based on functional areas, and well-defined reporting

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paths across all units. Employees are expected to report to their respective managers for both task execution and

disciplinary matters.

The theory positions the school manager as having full control over subordinates and advocates for the use of

enabling technologies to increase operational efficiency. It highlights the importance of structured information

and coordination mechanisms within an organization, typically achieved through hierarchies to ensure

performance.

COMT is particularly relevant to the study of private school management systems. Most private schools operate

in a structured manner where tasks are systematically allocated and closely monitored to enhance the

effectiveness and efficiency of curriculum implementation. In the context of resource mobilization and

deployment, integrating COMT with NPM and CSM promotes more democratic participation in supervision and

decision-making processes that directly affect student outcomes.

For instance, differentiated teacher supervision—rooted in these theoretical integrations—offers varied

supervisory strategies tailored to individual teacher preferences, which may positively influence performance.

The CSM contributes by establishing structured management information flow channels, optimizing resource

usage, and leveraging community support for teachers and students. Meanwhile, the NPM model introduces

principles such as increased autonomy in decision-making, market-oriented school management, outcome-based

accountability, customer satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness, which are particularly beneficial in today’s

educational environment.

This theoretical integration is especially important in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which

includes the use of assistive artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. It enables the alignment of teacher- and

student-based processes, producing favorable outputs and feedback loops that help gauge customer (i.e., student

and community) satisfaction or indicate the need for external support.

The primary focus of management within this integrated model is to harmonize teaching, control, and assessment

materials to enhance internal efficiency in knowledge management. These interrelationships allow school

management systems to monitor the intake, processing, and output of learning information effectively—

ultimately ensuring high-quality educational outcomes.

Figure 1 illustrates these interrelated components and their roles within the private secondary school

management framework.

Figure 1: Applying the integrated NPM and CSM amidst COMT in private secondary schools

Source: Improved from Mayer (2021)

Brain:

Decoder,

memory

Student

Sensory

organs

Control and test

materials

Student

Differentiated

supervision

Teacher

Information

sources and

training tools

Output

Notebooks or

recorders

Feedback

Resource, Space and

Community support

School Management System

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Therefore, the theoretical integration guided this study based on its core tenets, which emphasize the most critical

factors necessary for any innovative school to succeed in its teaching and learning operations. Specifically, it

provided a framework for understanding how innovative opportunities within private school management

systems can influence students' academic performance, particularly in helping students excel in national

examinations.

According to Mosha (2006), high academic performance in schools is essential and largely depends on effective

school leadership, the availability of adequate teaching and learning materials, strong school discipline, and

participatory leadership systems. These factors are crucial in supporting a high-performing school environment.

The effectiveness of these elements can be further enhanced through close supervision and quality monitoring,

which involve engaging stakeholders in strategic planning.

Such engagement is especially important in the mobilization and deployment of resources—an area that

significantly influences the ability of private secondary schools to achieve strong academic outcomes. Therefore,

stakeholder participation in decision-making processes becomes a key factor in driving innovation and ensuring

academic excellence in private secondary schools.

Opportunities towards strengthening the management of private schools

The Private secondary schools offer valuable opportunities for both investors in education service provision and

citizens as beneficiaries of these services. These opportunities are largely influenced by the education policy of

a country, the availability of a conducive environment for schooling, and the presence of agencies or

organizations that sponsor or support educational initiatives.

For example, in England, the wide diversity of private schools is supported by various associations and

membership-based groups (Walford, 2009). Walford notes that a significant number of private schools receive

backing from the Conservative Party when it is in power. Additionally, there are well-established mechanisms

for providing sponsorship opportunities to talented students, enabling them to attend high-quality private schools

regardless of their socioeconomic background (Walford, 2009).

In contrast, the situation in Tanzania reflects a different reality. While the ruling party has, in some jurisdictions,

established private schools under parental councils, these institutions often face substantial constraints. The most

notable limitation is the lack of sponsorship opportunities that could enable access for students from

underprivileged backgrounds. This challenge is a common characteristic of private school operations in many

low-income countries, where external support and equitable access mechanisms are often insufficient or absent.

Nonetheless, in most high-income countries, including the United States, many private schools—especially those

affiliated with religious organizations—receive government financial support to help sustain their operations

(Riley et al., 1997; Nasaw, 1989). These subsidies are disbursed from government funds based on the rationale

that investment in private education contributes to national development through enhanced service delivery in

terms of both capacity and quality.

This approach has facilitated the rise of charter schools in the U.S., representing one of the most recent forms of

educational privatization (Nasaw, 1989). Charter schools are privately managed public schools, and they

exemplify the state’s outsourcing of instructional services to non-governmental entities. The concept of charter

schools is grounded in two central principles: autonomy and accountability.

School management teams in charter schools enjoy a high degree of autonomy in decision-making, leadership,

and day-to-day operations. At the same time, they are expected to uphold a strong sense of managerial,

regulatory, and performance accountability (Berryphill et al., 2009; Cochran-Smith et al., 2017). These schools

and their staff remain accountable not only to the state and supporting agencies but also to parents and students,

who maintain democratic influence over the evaluation of school performance and service delivery.

In Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, the efficiency of school management systems is often unpredictable

due to limited resource inputs to schools. A study in Nigeria, for instance, reveals that access to funding for

private school owners is limited. Most private schools are small in size, lack essential teaching equipment and

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facilities, and operate from makeshift houses or rented accommodations (Agi, 2013). The cost of such

accommodation hampers their ability to acquire purpose-built educational infrastructure, modern equipment,

qualified teachers, and other resources necessary to meet the operational standards set by the state (Odeleye &

Oyelamin, 2012).

Despite these challenges, some private schools that exercise a high degree of autonomy have emerged as high-

performing and attractive institutions. In Kenya, for example, studies have shown that poor parents often bypass

fee-free public primary schools and instead send their children to fee-paying, low-cost private schools,

perceiving them to offer better quality education (Oketch & Somerset, 2010). These parents, though

economically disadvantaged, often make deliberate efforts to create favorable home learning environments for

their children (Wamalwa & Burns, 2017). The perceived high quality of private schools—characterized by

effective teaching, better teacher attendance, strong school performance, smaller class sizes, and good

discipline—drives many parents' decisions to enroll their children in such schools (Oketch & Somerset, 2010).

In Tanzania, the rapid growth of private secondary schools over the past two to three decades offers important

lessons on the influence of government policies on private education (Kivenule, 2015; Lassibille et al., 1999).

The excess demand for education services since the 1980s has been a major driver of policy changes that have

encouraged investment in private schools. In response, the government has removed policy barriers to private

education investment. This has contributed to a significant increase in the gross enrolment ratio and a widening

of access to secondary education within a relatively short period (Kennedy, 2014; Kivenule, 2015).

However, several studies indicate that despite growing demand and opportunity, private schools face notable

challenges. For example, Godbless’ (2014) survey of 161 respondents in Arusha City Council found that high-

quality education in private schools is often attributed to the availability of teaching and learning resources, such

as textbooks, qualified teachers, classrooms, desks, and laboratories. A traditional strength of private school

management is their capacity to manage and sustainably utilize material and physical resources, which reflects

not only accountability but also the rationales of private ownership.

Nonetheless, some private secondary schools fail to deliver quality education, experiencing low enrolment ratios,

frequent teacher turnover, and poor achievement of institutional goals, leading in some cases to school closure.

These failures are attributed to insufficient funding, poor administration, weak human resource management,

unfavorable government policies, stiff competition from other private schools, and the employment of

unqualified teachers.

In response, many private schools attempt to overcome these issues by raising school fees. However, this

approach often results in the exclusion of academically gifted students from economically underprivileged

families, undermining equity and access in the education system.

On a related note, an analysis by Sabarwal et al. (2020) on the potential role of low-cost private secondary

schools in Tanzania reveals that the share of private school enrollment has been negatively correlated with the

availability of public schools. Following the introduction of the 2016 Fee-Free Basic Education financing

framework, the public secondary education system in Tanzania has faced significant demand pressures—

pressures that the government, with its limited resources, has struggled to manage.

Using micro-level data from the Morogoro region, the study finds that private schools possess excess capacity,

which could allow them to absorb additional students at relatively low cost through potential public-private

partnerships (PPPs). Importantly, the study reports no evidence that service delivery or student performance in

private schools is inferior to that of public schools. These findings offer empirical evidence supporting the

feasibility of PPPs as a strategy to expand access to secondary education across Tanzania.

Without such partnerships, Tanzania risks facing significant supply shortfalls in basic education provision.

Moreover, detailed micro-data reveal that private schools in the country have the capacity, quality of service

delivery, parental demand, and willingness to collaborate with the government in delivering basic education

services. This suggests several entry points for exploring welfare-enhancing public-private partnerships in

Tanzania’s secondary education sector.

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However, a major limitation remains: private schools do not enroll enough students, primarily because most

parents cannot afford private school fees, as the majority of students come from low-income families. This

affordability challenge poses a significant barrier to fully realizing the potential of PPPs in expanding access to

quality education for all.

STUDY METHODS

This study used a qualitative approach and a case study design on private secondary schools in Iringa Region

(Tanzania), in 2022. The target population was school managers (SMs), school board members (SBMs), heads

of schools (HoSs), secondary school teachers (SSTs), and students. Four private secondary schools were

purposively selected, focusing on three groups (strata) of schools, i.e. the private co-education schools; the

private single-sex schools (those for only boys or girls); and seminaries. From each stratum, one school was

picked randomly to represent other schools.

The study respondents were 4 school managers, 8 school board members (i.e. two school board members from

each school), 4 heads of school who were purposely involved in the study. The study also involved 8 secondary

school teachers (i.e., 02 teachers from each school) who were selected as an academic master/mistress or

discipline master. It also involved forty students by selecting 06 students from each school. In single-sex schools,

random sampling was applied to obtain 06 students from higher classes of form three or four. Eventually, 48

participants were involved in the study as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: The Sample Composition of the Study

Respondents

Schools

Seminary

CoSS

SSGS

SSBS

Total

SMs

SBMs

HoSs

SSTs

Students

Total

Source: Field Data (2022)

Note: CoSS stands for Co-education Secondary School; HoS refers to Heads of School; SMs means

School Managers; SSGS denotes Single-sex Girls Secondary School; SSBS indicates Single-sex Boys

Secondary School; SSTs are Secondary School Teachers; and SBMs represent School Board Members.

Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from SMs, SBMs, HoSs, and selected SSTs. Focus Group

Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with selected Form III and Form IV students. Moreover, documentary

reviews were conducted using documents related to private school management systems, financial management

and transactions, control and auditing procedures, teachers’ recruitment, students’ enrolment procedures, and

teachers’ retention strategies. Data obtained through interviews, FGDs, and documentary reviews were analyzed

through the thematic (content) analysis technique. Similar responses addressing a particular issue were grouped

into one theme and subdivided into different smaller themes, which were presented in the form of quotations to

illustrate the challenges, as appraised by Bihu (2024).

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

This section presents the findings on the opportunities towards Strengthening the Management Systems of

Private Secondary Schools. Opportunities identified are related with several issues, among others assurance of

higher students’ achievements in learning outcomes, deployment of the decentralized and self-autonomous

practices of management models, better teaching options and flexible routines, geographically reaching the

economically disadvantaged students, and securing financial sustainability. Such opportunities are similar to

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issues raised by University of Birmingham (2014) in the UK. Effective and efficient utilization of the

opportunities around the schools is key for management achievement. On the one hand, the environment which

surrounds the school can provide opportunities for school development. This possibility implies that the school

management, which is focused on achieving the goals, should be able to identify or discover the appropriate

opportunities around their school and how such opportunities can be used for the school’s welfare. In this aspect,

the study focused on examining whether the environment surrounding private secondary schools has an impact

on enhancing the development of strong School Management Systems (SMS). To solicit information about this

issue, interviews were conducted with private SMs, SBMs, HoSs, SSTs, and through FGDs with the students.

The findings on the opportunities are presented in detail and analyzed in Subsection 4.1 through Subsection 4.5.

Creation of Better Learning Space and Time

One of the major limiting factors for school establishment is the availability of land for the school campus. The

findings show that there are opportunities related to the availability of large land areas, which can be utilized to

develop and strengthen schools. One of the most exciting opportunities in this regard is the possibility of buying

and owning land for school establishment at a low cost. In the study locale, for instance, it costs up to 100 TZS

per square meter to purchase land in easily accessible locations. This contrasts with prices ranging from 500 to

1000 TZS per square meter for land in other urban and peri-urban areas in Tanzania, where land is usually offered

in smaller sizes. The possibility of owning a large area at the lowest possible cost is the most valued opportunity

for school development in the study area. This opportunity is also linked to the favourable weather conditions in

the region. In fact, one of the school managers narrated that:

“The most important opportunities which exist in Iringa Region are the availability of land and

favourable weather conditions; these make the establishment of schools easier. It is possible to

get large land at a cheap price because the region has plenty of open spaces, and the weather

conditions support the growth of different food crops, including cereal crops and legumes.

Weather conditions also provide favourable conditions for students to study comfortably.”

(Interview, School 1)

And, the majority of the students, 11 (i.e., 45.8%), who participated in the FGDs appreciated that the good

climatic conditions make the environment very conducive for students to study well without experiencing any

difficulties (cf. Attachment).

The availability of land (i.e. large area size) however, associated with the favourable weather conditions, presents

a variety of options for establishing income generation projects for the schools. While certain projects have been

used to raise finances for school expenses, the projects presents avenues for related subject contents which

students learn, e,g., agriculture, poultry, and animal husbandry. It provides avenues for teaching and learning by

doing in that regard.

In addition, School Board Members were also interviewed about the opportunities available that can enhance

the establishment of their schools. The findings also revealed that appraisal of the good land and weather was

first determined by the colonialist and missionaries about a century ago. They settled in the peaks of the highlands

where they utilized arable land for agriculture and establishing schools. The same weather presents an array of

opportunities for agricultural projects including sunflower growing and refinery plants, cones and cassava for

both consumption and commercial purpose. In fact, one of the participants presented on the issues of weather

and land availability that:

This was also realized since colonial times, as colonialists and missionaries established a lot of

schools in Iringa Region between 1920 and 1950. Some schools that still exist today include

Tosamaganga High School, Lugalo and Malangali Secondary Schools, and Gangilonga Primary

School (Interview, SBM from School 4)

Another fact is that schools with large areas of land have been using the land to cultivate the crops which they

use to feed the students. They also buy food from neighboring vendors with plentiful of reserves in their stocks.

This has positive concerns of economies of scales in meeting the demands of school requirements. Food supplies

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to schools can be made at lowest possible costs. This opportunity simplifies the works of management as one of

the most overarching issues in private schools includes sustainably maintaining high quality food menu for the

students. As the climatic conditions support the growth of various food crops, food supplies for feeding the

students can be obtained at very cheap prices.

Additively, the findings revealed that at the tip of the management operations is the amplification of the

managerial functions through differentiated supervision of the schools by the HoSs. Differentiated supervision

offers several leadership options for individual teachers to follow in achieving the desired performance results.

These options include clinical, cooperative professional development, self-directed professional development,

and administrative monitoring. Such options provide the teachers and schools flexibility in supervision to adapt

the pre-existing teaching and learning environments.

Geographical Location of Schools as a Strategic Advantage

Iringa Region is located at the geographical coordinates at the relative centre of the Country. By implication, it

easy for schools established to serve students from different neighboring regions. It can be easily reached by

highest catchment area than would be for schools in other regions. On this matter, one of the interviewees

explained that:

Iringa Region has the opportunity to get enough people for manpower since the people are honest

and hardworking. The region is located in a geographical position forming a strategic gateway

for different regions, as it stands at the middle of the country where all highways cross. Therefore,

once you establish a school, it is easy to get students from all corners of the country, such as

Dodoma, Arusha, Morogoro, Dar es Salaam, Njombe, Ruvuma, Mbeya, and so forth (Interview,

SM fromSchool3)

The location of the region received much concern on the easiness of eligible students to attend schooling from

far regions. In fact, 2 of the students (8.3%) who participated in the FGDs explained that the presence of roads,

such as the highway from Dar es Salaam (DSM) to Lusaka, Zambia is a very important opportunity for easy

transport and many students can travel and join the school (cf. Attachment). This is a reality enabling the region

to increase its students’ enrolment catchment area.

Good Country Policies Enabling Private Investment in Education

The government of Tanzania has established policies that favours investment in education by individual persons,

organizations, and external investors. Some internationally high profiling schools including the International

School of Tanganyika for instance are operating in Tanzania. These good policies are exercised with proper laws

and regulations on the establishment of schools, and education conduct in schools. The Education and Training

Policy (ETP) of 2014 identified the crucial role of the private schools and other education stakeholders and

steering the development of education service provision in the country. Nonetheless, the Education Act No. 25

of 1978 guides the central and local administration of national schools, proper establishment and registration of

schools, management and control of schools, provisions on teachers, and appeals boards. In certain instances,

the government provides support to the private secondary schools’ managements let alone the fact that it invests

a lot in doing summative evaluation of education programme implementations for the schools. Such good legal

provisions have overtime attracted investment in education by private players in liberal economic environment.

This has in particular served big proportion of the students which the public schools have not been able to afford

for the past three to four decades. Expansion of the public schools in Tanzania has been witnessed in the post-

2000s with many secondary school termed as the Ward Community Schools. On this issue, one head of school

commented:

Clear policies of our country are an opportunity since they allow people and private organizations

to establish schools. Sometimes, the government, through the Ministry of Education, provides

support to private schools to encourage them to grow (Interview, School5)

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School Community Support

The success of the school systems’ managements in terms of resources supply and availability may also depend

on the community external to the school in terms of good relations with supporters or/and well-wishers and

donors. In certain circumstances, schools derive support from the community around it, for instance, in obtaining

non-ransomed support of security on its physical and infrastructural materials. One finds imperative for school

managers to situate a school in good and proper terms with the surrounding communities. As a property

established for the betterment of the community, schools in locale receive support from all social groups in terms

of material donation to school programmes including sports and games, locomotives, and healthy labs. Certain

social groups may also appear to offer specific consultations and labour to the schools for enhancing school

performances. This situation is seen as the outcome of good relations with surrounding communities which create

in them a sense of humanity and ownership requiring them to offer support to the schools. In fact, one of the

participants argued on this case that:

The community which surrounds my school is an opportunity for my school to develop because

I normally get support from them when I need it. In many cases, I use community members as

security guards and for various activities that require labor. The relationships established between

them and our school make them feel that the school is their own (Interview, HoS from School 6)

And, 4 (16.7%)of the students who participated in the FGDs added that The good community which surrounds

the school has been a very important opportunity for school development.

Good relations with the surrounding communities offers an opportunity of surviving on opportunity costs which

the school managements’ do not pay for, as they do not outsource them professionally. This kind of relations is

built on the traditionally accepted conditionality of the socialism and humanity among the countryside citizens.

The citizenry and its philosophy is of the concern that socialism elevates a concern of common ownerships of

the entities and plants offering services for the common public good. One findings the outcome of the good

relations flourishing the schools most notably in underserved community areas where the government education

services are not adequately met by the people. Even though some of the private schools tend to wage up the

school fees higher than what normal citizens could afford, the communities around the schools play a giant role

in the schools’ survival. For instance, the school management board which a key advisory body for the school

management to run and improve its operations comes from the neighboring community in lieu of the country

law governing the management of schools. School board members make valuable advisory inputs in all areas of

school management function to improve its practices. The board makes a significant professional representation

of the community in the school sits for advice on critical school decision-making and development issues. This

fact has gained a wide support from an extended data pattern. For instance, in soliciting more information, the

teachers who were mainly in the school management team (SMT) responded about the available opportunities

which can enhance private secondary schools to develop and perform well academically. One of the teachers

explained that:

Our community which surrounds the school sometimes has been a very good opportunity for the

development of our schools since they normally report students who try to escape from the school.

But in some cases, they have been a very big threat to our schools since they collude with the

students to steal school properties. Therefore, we need to be very careful as we should not trust

the community one hundred percent (Interview, SST from School 8)

The excerpt is of the concern that despite the good contributions the school has seen from the community people,

some of the people could not be trusted to the whole percent. One should take a note that school members find

it difficult to stay in agreement with the community members throughout their career lifecycles as teachers, and

other members of the organization. One line of thinking is that individual school workers may work in conflicting

situations with school neighbouring communities. This has been the common issue for most of schools as it may

be for many secular organisations and industrial firms or/and plants. Another line of thinking is that, it may

happen that there is a conflict of interests beyond individual workers to the level of organisation’s ownership of

assets such as land that may subject the schools’ that may subject the schools’ individual workers to conflicts

and mistrust with the community people. The convergence between the two lines of thinking is based not on the

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quality or gravity of the conflict but on the reality that conflicts are to be meaningfully managed and resolved

for organisation’s betterment. Conflicts provide an opportunity for school management to understand the nature

and type of community people which it relates with and bases its operations on. Effective conflict mediation

practices offer a way of building and maintaining trust among the conflicting parties so that the future of school

operations is secured.

Higher Education Institutions for Students Tracking-Up

The education system of Tanzania presents a unique model of schooling in which capable students from schools

aim at completing a university education. Though they may pass through different routes including the tertiary

education institutions such as the Teachers’ Training Colleges (TTCs), the ultimate goal for majority of the

students is to achieve a university education programme. The study locale presents an opportunity of several

universities and TTCs available to accommodate them. Availability of the higher learning institutions adds value

to the internal efficiency of the education system in producing professionals for diverse discipline. For the private

schools in the locale, it motivates and encourages increase in enrolment of students starting their career journey.

Many parents opt to incur high costly education services in the private schools for the purpose of securing the

future of the children’s academic progress and achievements for their prospective careers. In fact, 7 of the

students (29.2%) who participated in the FGDs argued that the presence of higher education institutions, like

universities and some colleges, in one way or another acts as a catalyst for enrolment into private secondary

schools and motivates students to study hard (cf. Attachment).

The implicit of the event of increased enrolment and motivated learning is the aftermaths of the benefits for

students and schools in reciprocity. Increased enrolment on the one hand, offers the private schools’ fiscal

capacity to run its operations on the basis of increased volume the user-fees. On the other hand, it opens the

gateway for the majority of the students and parents to find education opportunities that can be easily monitored

by the parents to effect the goals of education of the students. This kind of opportunity creates the survival

channels for the schools while ensuring the future of the education of children (and the future of their careers)

in the study locale.

DISCUSSION

This section discusses the findings on the opportunities for enhancing private school management systems. The

findings have revealed some opportunities which exist around the private secondary schools, which may be

useful in enhancing the SMS. These findings are discussed in Subsection 5.1 through Subsection 5.5.

Creation of Better Learning Spaces and Time

The findings have indicated that one of the opportunities for development of the private education service

provision in the study locale is the availability of land at the minimum possible cost. The nexus to the

enhancement of school development in terms of acquiring large area size for school campus is the possibility of

providing the arable land for establishing the school development income generation projects. As presented

earlier, one of the most challenging issues which privately owned schools in the study locale are in pursuit of

resolving is the development and maintenance of financial capacity for sustainably stable school finances. Low

financial capacities in schools are evident through indicators such as failure to remunerate and maintain stable

staff, and operating with inadequate resources in both quality and quantity. While the availability of plenty of

land provides opportunities to establish large campuses, good weather conditions offer opportunities for

establishing agricultural products, including various cereal and legume crops, for income generation, in addition

to providing a conducive environment for studying. These income-generating activities are crucial as they

provide additional revenue for schools, subsidizing the income from user fees paid by students. This also results

in the region having plenty of food, thereby keeping the costs for feeding students low. This aspect is very

important as it makes the costs of running schools much lower compared to other regions.

The findings have connected good campuses and a conducive working environment, supplied with proper

teaching and learning technologies, to providing options for the SMs and HoSs to grant autonomy and authority

to teachers through differentiated supervision approaches. Such findings concur with analyses by Kalule and

Bouchamma (2013) and Glatthorn (1984) from similar studies. It is astonishing, however, that issues of

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availability of land and good climatic conditions are not reported in various studies as important factors in

enhancing school management systems in the study locale, let alone the presentation by Mayer (2021) on the

contribution of time and place to students’ performance.

The integrated theoretical model in the current study raises concern that community support may be associated

with resources necessary to implement differentiated supervision approaches, information sources, and training

tools. In fact, the availability of fertile land with good climatic conditions in low-income communities has been

found to contribute significantly to the development of private secondary schools. Anecdotal evidence in this

case has linked the land produce to contributions towards the school and teachers’ financial capacities. It is also

equally important for the development and wellbeing of students through subsidizing schools’ nutritional needs,

thereby having direct effects on students’ academic performance.

Therefore, private secondary schools flourish on plenty of fertile land with good weather conditions. It is easy

to acquire land for building schools and cheaper to run schools since such areas have plenty of cereal crops,

which are obtained quite easily at very low prices. Some schools may even practice farming to obtain food for

their students. Thus, for the establishment, development, and management of private schools in Iringa Region,

it is easier and cheaper for the aforementioned reasons. This is an obvious opportunity which school owners can

utilize to develop and improve their schools in all spheres.

Geographical Location of Region as a Strategic Advantage

Data have indicated that the geographic location of schools in the region, and the region itself, offers a strategic

advantage for student choice from both within and outside the region. This characteristic opportunity provides

an array of advantages that favor the easy development of private secondary schools and the academic wellbeing

of students. In fact, data have shown that Iringa Region lies at the central part of the country, where all the main

highways pass by, making the region accessible from every corner of the country. The availability of access

roads, including the highways from Dar es Salaam to Lusaka (Zambia), enables candidates to join schools from

an extended catchment area. This is paramount in the business models that private schools exhibit.

Accordingly, private schools grow as they enroll students from a pool of economically well-off families,

particularly those from commercial and capital cities, and from business-oriented towns and townships. This is

strategically feasible as school expenses including the costs of paying teachers are raised on school fees from

students and their parents. This means a good pool of households offer assurances that schools can admit students

who can pay high costs of education sustainably to enable the schools to operate effectively and efficiently.

Nonetheless, schools which lack the best pool of customers fail on revenues. The findings have indicated that

some schools in the study locale fail and close on this reason. Such findings concur with the finding from similar

research implemented by Shyllon and Joshi (2015) indicating that disproportionately 53 percent of total private

school spending in Tanzania is pegged on students from well-off families which is competitively distributed on

well-established schools with high financial bases. In this case, schools owned by individuals are often

confronted by financial threats to stop and often closeup, compared to schools owned by faith-based organization

which can offer alternative sources of fundraising.

Favourable Country Policies Favouring Private Investment in Education Service

For organizations to achieve their missions and reach their visions, their operational goals should align with the

country’s policies. Operations in private secondary schools are not exclusive. Data have shown that participants

perceive that good country policies favor individuals and organizations to establish and own schools, and that

their schools operate within clear education policies. Tanzania has prioritized investment in education for the

purpose of increasing enrollment and ensuring equity in access to education services by all eligible individuals.

This has been so because Tanzania believes that government-owned schools alone cannot provide all education

services to the entire community. Tanzania is large and has a big population; therefore, it requires additional

support from private institutions to provide education services. Due to this, Tanzania’s education policy

encourages private education institutions to open and run their schools in order to educate society (Kivenule,

2015).

The capital to establish a school campus is the least among the East Africa Community nations. This is practically

important in areas where the government has traditionally been failing to afford the requirements for education

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services for all learners. Private players’ role is to offer education services similar to the standards offered in

private schools. The government provides provisions on quality control and assurance, and let the private schools

provide the services.

While processes in private schools are uniquely managed by private players, their performances are determined

by the government bodies in summative evaluation. The processes involved are transparent and satisfied the

standards of objective evaluation of public and private schools in an inclusive manner. Normally, private schools

become competitive when their systems of operations satisfy the government set standards of operations.

Anecdotal evidence has indicated that the provisions offered by the government and establish and running the

schools including offering the teachers benefits are favourable and accepted by the private schools’

managements. They are derivatives of the national education and training policies and law acts. In Tanzania,

students who get education in private schools pass through a curriculum prescribed for both public and private

schools, with teachers graduating from the same training institutions. Schools are similarly evaluated by the

same quality assurance and control body to ensure the schools run in required capacity and quality.

As the private players make some investments in physical resources and infrastructures, their service provision

undergo a liberal business model in which they wage all the costs of education plus expected profit on the

education service end-users- the students. However, the government encourages such interventions especially in

areas which are underserved. It is also noted however, that, the government do not find a full control over what

the private schools charge as school fees. With highly raised costs in such schools, children from financially

privileged families enjoy the best education services in well set schools. This implies the variations in school

fees amount among the privately owned schools on the basis of investment in terms of both human and non-

human capital. Some private schools underachieve in this regard. The government has responded by prioritizing

in relieving their burden by offering land lease to some school owners and providing some tax exemptions on

their operations. Liberalization of the education services, therefore, has provided a wider avenue for the private

players to invest in education services provision according to their capacities and competences. The survival of

a private school is fostered by friendly policy and legal environment.

School Community Support

Communities surrounding the schools have significant contributions to school achievements. The community

provides support in various forms to the school. In this study, it has been revealed that communities around the

schools provide an advantage of adequate, cheap labourers who are hardworking and honest. Once a school is

established, it is easy to get support from cheap labourers for various school activities, and therefore contribute

to easier running of the school. Private schools also get support on security issues through collaborative

ownership of some school operations with the community and education stakeholders. The physical resources

and infrastructures are embedded in the community system of ownership. As parents’ children get education in

those schools, the community feels a sense of ownership of the schools. This tradition in Tanzanian societies is

a fading argument as the sense of socialism is losing its place in the face of liberalization of education services

amidst the dominant capitalist forces due to globalization.

Notwithstanding, community support is inadequately offered due to the shortage of financial capacity among

community members. Most of the schools are located in low-income communities which do not provide adequate

financial support. Some schools have collapsed due to a lack of financial support amid poor surrounding

communities. Based on the aforesaid findings on financial constraints, the researcher views that establishment

of private secondary schools in Tanzania is still a challenge due to the majority of the community being poor.

They cannot afford sending their children to private schools which demand very high school fees. As a result,

the majority of private schools do not enroll enough students who can pay school fees to enable the school to

meet all the necessary requirements for running the school. This implies that private secondary schools need

support from the government or other non-government institutions through provision of various education

resources, such as books, science and ICT facilities. They can even establish systems of providing simple loans

to private secondary schools and lowering taxes for them.

On the other hand, anecdotal evidence has shown that awareness of community members and their acquisition

of transparent access to school accountability frameworks, as would be expected from the New Public

Management (NPM) framework, was parochial and insignificant. Schools were not accountable to the

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community in the context of transparency in education management, particularly regarding the use of fiscal

resources. This led to weaknesses in organizational structures and weak financial procedures, supporting

Maulid’s (2017) findings on similar issues in Tanzania.

Higher Education Institutions for Students’ Track-Up

The education system in Tanzania includes 2+10+2+3+ Years of education for preschool, basic education,

secondary education, and tertiary or university education. The 10 cluster constitutes learners who previously

were identified as primary school pupils, and ordinary secondary education students. The implicit aspect of the

analysis is the recognition that the current study draws from a combination of the ordinary secondary education

and the advanced secondary education (re-identified as 2 years’ secondary education in this analysis). For

adequacy requirements and ensuring the internal efficiency of education system, eligible learners should track-

up to the next higher level of learning. Learners with capacities to pursue specific disciplines are given avenues

to explore their potentials in pursuing academics and their careers. Augmentation of the SCM and NPM provides

student-focused intervention that assures information access, and resource supply to achieve the learning goals

for track-up. In this case, closed cybernetic system consists of a teacher (a statement of learning goals and

objectives, a source of education information), a student, and control-test materials (Mayer, 2021).

So, students from secondary education enroll in higher learning institutions subject to academic performance.

For all eligible learners to secure places in higher learning institutions, there should be enough institutions to

accommodate them. This is a major concern and the rationale behind the government granting private players

opportunities to invest in education. The findings have indicated that the region has some higher education

institutions, such as universities and colleges, including Ruhaha University College, Tumaini University

College, Kleruu Teacher Training College, etc., which act as catalysts for lower institutions, like secondary

schools, to work hard academically. Nonetheless, the findings have also indicated that some schools exhibit poor

management systems that fail to attract and empower students to achieve their learning goals.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The quality of the school management system has crucial contribution to the academic achievements of the

schools and individual students. The system operations and academic achievements in terms of outputs and

outcomes depend on the levels of school resource inputs, and processing segments of the school management

systems. This implies schools with high financial capacity have high potential of forming high quality school

management systems, and vice versa. Whilst the initial adequate input of financial resources is highly offering

a competitive advantage, the management competence is a key to sustainable success in private secondary

schools.

The findings have identified that the private school managements may utilize the advantage of cheap labour from

the community in support of their operations. However, the courtesy is not in reciprocity in terms of transparency

and accountability to fiscal resources. This implies for less awareness of community people on demanding

knowledge of school fiscal capacity and support they ought to provide to the schools. The emerging picture is

the possibility of existence of unfair dealings in terms of social justice between the school managements and the

hardworking but inequitably remunerated labourers.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The presence of the schools failing to attract more students from the economically well-off families has been

noted as a major limiting factor for progresses in private secondary schools in Tanzania. On one hand, the study

recommends for the school owner to assure competencies in managements as they establish the schools to avoid

failure and frustration. On the other hand, the government may provide subsidies to the private schools failing

to raise adequate capital to set on required pace in the service provision. The subsidies may help raising the

financial efficacy of the schools and increase their competitive advantage, survival and sustainability in service

provision.

The incidences of the school managements utilizing cheap labourers presents advantages to the schools

establishing in the study locale. The situation has also signified that in order for the community to benefit from

their labour input school management may need to be transparent in terms of their fiscal capacity to the

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communities supporting them. This will give the capacity to negotiate to the community people so as to empower

the financial capacity of the local people in communities around the schools.

The findings have revealed the parents’ choice of the highly costly private ordinary secondary schools for their

children in preference of fee-free public education in Tanzania. This is unexpectedly the reality to both the

underprivileged and privileged families. Further research may focus on investigating why such unusual

preferences, and explore the comparative advantages in terms of opportunities between private and public

secondary schools in this regard.

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APPENDIX

Attachment: Opportunities for SMSs in School Development

No.

Students’ Responses

Frequencies (%)

Appreciated that the good climatic conditions make the environment very

conducive for students to study well without getting any difficulty.

11(45.8)

Argued that the presence of higher education institutions, like universities and

some colleges, in one way or other acts as a catalyst for secondary school

students to study hard.

7(29.2)

Commented that the good community which surrounds the school has been a

very important opportunity for school development.

4(16.7)

Availability of access roads, like the highway from DSM to Lusaka, Zambia, is a

very important opportunity for easy transport, and many students can travel and

join the school quite easily.

2(8.3)

Total

24(100.0)

Source: Field Data (2025)