Learning Environment And Academic Achievement Of Pupils In Tanzania Primary Schools: Difference, Dominance And Deficits

ABSTRACT

The study explored the learning environment and the academic achievement of pupils in Tanzania primary schools focusing on dominance, difference and deficits. The study stressed on the three main dimensions, namely school infrastructure and location, appropriate administration of the schools as well as the teachers‟ competency. The study was predominantly qualitative supplemented by quantitative approach with descriptive survey design. Bertallanfy General System Theory (GST) guided this study using participants selected from 40 primary schools in Dodoma Municipality. Data were collected through focus group discussions, observation checklist, interviews guidelines and documentary review. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis while quantitative data were analysed by descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics). Findings of this study show that learning environment in Tanzania primary schools was categorically characterized by various factors, like the appropriate location of schools; healthy administrative atmosphere; quality instruction and need based teaching-learning resources. Moreover, the private primary schools had a more significant difference and dominance in the learning environment and academic achievement than the public schools. Besides, strong positive correlation existed between the learning environment and academic achievement of pupils in primary schools. This study, therefore, recommends that the Government should prepare conducive learning environment to all public primary schools by motivating teachers, purchasing adequate teaching-learning resources so as to improve the pupil‟s academic achievement. Moreover, the government should make sure that funds to the Ministry of Education is adequately and reach reach the beneficiaries at the right time.