Importance Of Community Participation In Primary School Development In Mlele District: A Case Of Inyonga And Ilela Wards

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the study was to investigate the importance of community

participation in development of primary schools in Mlele district. The two schools

from Mlele district (Inyonga and Ilela primary schools) were taken as the case study.

The study was guided by four objectives which are; to assess the local people

understanding on community participation, to evaluate the extent/level of

community participation, importance of their participation and the

challenges/limitations for effective local people participation in primary school

development. Four data collection methods were employed which were observation,

interview, questionnaire and documentary review.

The findings reveal that community participates in development of their school

features in activities such as building classrooms, teacher‟s houses, toilets, furniture

and in school administration. The study showed the importance of community

participation including a reduced dependency on government, a sense of ownership,

it ensures democratic practices and transparency, and sustainable development.

Despite the community participation in school development, the research discovered

that the participation of local people is very low as the number of people who

participate in development is limited. The research finds out that there are a number

of factors that limit effective community participation which include poverty,

illiteracy and ignorance, political interferences, mistrust and misuse of money and

lack of transparency.

The researcher recommended to improve the number of local people who participate

in development and insist on the importance of education and awareness of the

community on their importance to participate in development of their schools.