Availability of Physical Infrastructure and Its Influence on the Quality Education in Public Secondary School in Arusha District, Tanzania

Michael Alex Sukurieth
Teacher; Olturoto Secondary School
P.O Box 2330- Arusha.
Email: sukuriethalex@gmail.com

Dr. Paul Raphael Kitula
Lecturer; St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT), Arusha.
P.O Box 12385 – Arusha, Tanzania.
Email: kitula07@gmail.com

Abstract: The study assessed the availability of physical infrastructure and its influence on the quality education in public secondary school in Arusha District. This study was grounded in the systems theory by Ludwig von Bertalanffy. The study employed mixed research approach and descriptive research design. The study responded to two research objectives namely to: assess the availability of physical infrastructure in public secondary school and investigate the influence of physical infrastructure on quality education in public secondary schools. Data were collected using questionnaires and interview schedule. The targeted population of 11643 from 33 public secondary schools from which a sample size of 98 (60 students, 30 teachers, 4 school heads and 4 WEOs) respondents from 4 secondary schools, were selected by simple, stratified and purposive sampling techniques. Research experts ascertained the validity of the instruments while reliability was tested and found to correlate at Cronbach coefficient Alpha value of r= 0.91 at teachers’ and students’ questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the results were presented in tables of frequencies and percentages. Qualitative data were thematically coded and analyzed alongside research questions. The findings were presented in narrative forms. The study revealed many schools have no teachers’ office, instead they use one of the students’ classrooms while classrooms are not enough for students, in some schools teachers are using students’ furniture interchangeably. The study recommends parents’ involvement in construction of infrastructures, regular maintenance and well equipping strategies for enough infrastructures in distributing resources for infrastructure development.