Extent of Monitoring Role of School Committee Ensuring Adequacy of Sanitation Facilities in Public Primary Schools in Buchosa District Council, Tanzania

Upendo Mndeme; Ogoti  E.O; Lidya Joseph  Mushi

doi:10.61227/2psn9t18

Authors

Upendo Mndeme Masters Student at Mwenge Catholic University, Tanzania
Ogoti E.O Masters Student at Mwenge Catholic University, Tanzania
Lidya Joseph Mushi Masters Student at Mwenge Catholic University, Tanzania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.61227/2psn9t18

Keywords:

School Committees, Monitoring, sanitation facilities, Menstrual hygiene structure

Abstract

This study investigated the extent to which monitoring role of school committees ensuring adequacy of sanitation facilities in public primary schools in Buchosa District Council, Tanzania. The study was guided by Systems Theory introduced by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy in 1968. A convergent design was under mixed-methods approach was used. The target population comprised 9,619 individuals, including 102 head teachers, 714 school committee members and 8,803 Standard Seven pupils from 102 public primary schools. A sample of 130 respondents was selected, comprising 10 public primary schools selected through simple random sampling, 40 school committee members selected through stratified random sampling and 10 head teachers together with 80 Standard Seven pupils selected through criterion purposive sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires, interview guides, focus group discussion guides and observation checklists. Instrument validity was established through expert review by two experts in the Department of Educational Planning and Administration at Mwenge Catholic Universitywhile reliability was determined using Cronbach's Alpha, where coefficients were 0.77 for the questionnaire while reliability for observation checklist was determined using KR-20, where its value was 0.952. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics as computed in SPSS version 27 including frequencies, percentages and mean scores while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that the extent of monitoring role of school committees was to a small extent in ensuring the adequacy of sanitation facilities in public primary schools in Buchosa District Council. However, gaps in the availability, maintenance, cleanliness and accessibility of essential sanitation facilities, together with limited financial resources, unreliable water supplies and insufficient follow-up action constrained their adequacy and usability. The study concluded that the existing monitoring practices employed by school committees are insufficient to ensure the adequacy of sanitation facilities in public primary schools in Buchosa District Council. The study recommends that school committees should strengthen regular monitoring of sanitation facilities to ensure the availability of sufficient sanitation facilities in public primary schools in Buchosa District council.

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