International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume III, Issue X, October 2019 | ISSN 2454–6186

Management of Disasters in Tanzania’s Secondary Schools: Policy Formulation and dissemination, the Unanswered Questions in Overcoming Fire Disasters

Alphonce J. Amuli

(A student of PhD in Education)
Department of Educational Foundations, Management and Lifelong Learning (EFMLL)
School of Education, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract: – This paper specifically investigated how policies to manage fire disaster incidents in secondary schools are formulated and disseminated to the respective stakeholders for implementation. The study focused on answering the major research question: How are policies formulated and disseminated to stave off and deal with fire disasters in Tanzania’s secondary schools? This question was divided further into two sub-questions; (1) How are stakeholders involved in the formulation of policy directives to manage fire outbreaks? (2) How are policies disseminated to secondary schools for managing fire outbreaks? The study covered three regions of Iringa, Mbeya and Kilimanjaro as well as the headquarters of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) on Tanzania Mainland. The change management theory and qualitative research approach informed the study. Data and information were gathered from a sample of 116 respondents comprising students, teachers, heads of school, School Board Members, District Secondary Education Officers, Regional Education Officers and the Commissioner of Education. The study used focused group discussions, face-to-face interviews and documentary analysis to collect data. Results from the study show that the stakeholders at the lower levels of the MoEST were hardly involved during the policy formulation process to manage fire disasters. In fact, even documents aimed to guide and direct school on effective management of fire disasters did not reach implementers in secondary schools because of unreliable channels of communication from the ministry headquarters downwards. Thus, the policy formulation process should draw on inputs from the people affected by fire outbreaks in the relevant context and shun away from solely relying on the top-down policy formulation approach. More importantly, there should be the reliable channel of communication for disseminating in schools the policies issued by the MoEST for managing fire outbreaks.

Key words: policy formulation, policy dissemination, change management, fire disasters, communication, top-down approach, fire outbreaks