A PERFORMANCE AUDIT REPORT ON SCHOOL INSPECTION PROGRAMME FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN TANZANIA

Transcription

1 THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE A PERFORMANCE AUDIT REPORT ON SCHOOL INSPECTION PROGRAMME FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN TANZANIA A REPORT OF THE CONTROLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

2 REGIONS VISITED DURING THE COURSE OF AUDIT ii National Audit Office

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preamble... Acronyms... vi ix Chapter One: Introduction... 1 Chapter Two: The School Inspection System... 6 Chapter Three: Planning And Priorities Chapter Four: Conducting School Inspections Chapter Five : Communication On Results Chapter Six: Monitoring And Impacts Chapter Seven: Conclusions Chapter Eight: Recommendations References Appendeces A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme iii

4 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Budget and actual expenditure of the School Inspectorate Department.. 31 Table 2. School Inspectors, inspections per team of inspectors of schools an and secondary schoosl Table 3. Subject matters being addressed by the special school inspections of secondary schools Table4. Irregular behaviour among headmasters/mistress, teacher and students being examined through special school inspections of secondary schools. 40 Table 5. Other issues than irregularities that initiated special school inspections during the years 2004 and Table 6. Issues addressed by the special school inspections of secondary schools during , based on a selection of 91 out of the total 2900 special inspections Table 7. Issues specifically related to poor performing students in the handbook for the school inspection Table 8. The extent in which vital aspects of poor performing students are targeted in the school inspections Table 9. The School Inspectorate s advices in and school inspection reports recipients 66 LIST OF FIGURES System graph of School Inspectorate and key players iv National Audit Office

5 PREAMBLE The Public Audit Act No. 11 of 2008, Section 28 authorizes the Controller and Auditor General to carry out Performance Audit (Value-for-Money Audit) for the purpose of establishing economy, efficiency and effectiveness of any expenditure or use of resources in the Ministries, Regions, Local Authorities and Public Authorities and other bodies. I have the honour to submit to the Minister of Education and Vocational Training for presentation to Parliament my Performance Audit Report on School Inspection Programme for Secondary Schools in Tanzania. Performance Audit is currently being introduced at the Tanzanian National Audit Office as part of a capacity building project in co-operation with Sida and the Swedish National Audit Office. It may be noted that Performance Audit normally has a wider coverage than Financial Audit. Performance Audit aims at better use of resources, improved operations and better decision-making in reaching policy objectives set by the Parliament, in this case the School Inspectorate which is responsible for school inspection programme. The report contains conclusions and recommendations that directly concern Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. The Ministry has been given the opportunity to scrutinize the factual content and comment on the draft report. I wish to acknowledge that the discussions with the Ministry has been very constructive. My office intends to carry out a follow-up at an appropriate time regarding actions taken by the Ministry in relation to the recommendations of this audit report. This report has been prepared by Robert Cheyo, Henry Martin, Warento Nyanchogu and Esnath Henry under the guidance of Gregory G. Teu and Carl Ake Gerden. I would like to thank my staff for their assistance in the preparation of this report. Thanks go also to the University of Dar -es -Salaam experts (Prof. Issa Mcholo Omari and Dr. Allen R. Mushi) and the Ministry for their fruitful interaction with my office. Ludovick S.L. Utouh Controller and Auditor General Dar es Salaam December, A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme v

6 Role of the National Audit Office The National Audit Office scrutinizes public spending on behalf of the Parliament. We audit the accounts of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as a wide range of other Public Authorities, and report to Parliament on the economy (minimising costs), efficiency (maximising the ratio of the output from goods or services to the resources to produce them) and effectiveness (comparing actual outcomes - what was intended with which MDAs and Public Authorities have used public monies). Our work does not question the merits of the policies, but assesses the way Government policies are implemented. The National Audit Office is ambitious and determined to publish four performance or value for money audit reports in every year. The reports aim at examining Central and Local Government Programmes and activities in order to assess performance, identify good practices and suggest ways in which public services could be improved. The National Audit Office has reported on school inspection programme on Mathematics and Science subjects and has shown how the School Inspectorate substantially contributes towards improvement and maintaining education standards in the country. This report has actually been prepared as reference tool to help School Inspectorate to identify and tackle the issues that we have found to be important to school performance. vi National Audit Office

7 Photos Education an opportunity for all Facts and figures that give an insight There is shortage of teachers in some subjects, such as Mathematics and Science. A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme vii

8 Secondary School students in a mathematics class viii National Audit Office

9 ACRONYMS DAS - District Administrative Secretary DC - District Commissioner DEO - District EducationOfficer HIV/AIDS - Human Imuno Virus/Aquired Imuno Deficiency Syndrome MoEVT - Ministry of Education and Vocational Training MES - Mpango wa Elimu wa Sekondari NAOT - National Audit Office of Tanzania OCAG - Office of the Controller and Auditor General PS - Personal Secretary RAS - Reginal Administrative Secretary RAO - Regional Adminstrative Officer REO - Regional Eduaction Officer RAO - Regional Adminstrative Officer SLO - Statistic and Logistic Officer UDSM - University of Dar es Salaam A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme ix

10 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY What are the audit issues Poor performing students in science subjects in Secondary Schools such as Mathematics and Sciences are an issue that has been well known and discussed by many people for so long in Tanzania. It is a concern that good performance of students in science subjects is essential for social and economic development. The aims among others in the Government s Education Policy for secondary school are to achieve equity in education and also, to prepare all students for higher education. Despite these ambitions there are massive failures in mathematics and science subjects in secondary school. For example, the National Form Four Examination results for 2004, 2005 and 2006 failures in Mathematics were 70, 77 and 76 per-cent respectively. There were massive failures in Mathematics and Science subjects in secondary schools. The focus in Mathematics and Sciences in this audit, is legitimate as there is infact a crisis nationally on the teaching, learning and performance in these vital subjects. Furthermore, the percentage of failures in physics, chemistry and biology were, 43, 35, 45 in the year 2003 and 45, 35, 43 per-cent in the year 2004 respectively. School inspection is an important instrument for the Government to assure that there is good performance in secondary schools. This makes it important that the School Inspectorate conducts their duties in an efficient and effective way. This audit is focused on how and to what extent the School Inspectorate genuinely addresses the issue of poor performing students in mathematics and science subjects in secondary schools, and how it operates in terms of planning, conducting school inspections in order to achieve the intended objectives. The National Audit Office has examined school inspection documents and relevant literatures. The office has also, conducted a large number of interviews with various stakeholders who are concerned with the audit object to share experiences, collect their views as a part of auditing process as shown in Appendix 1. What we have found We noted that there are no clear priorities on poor performing students in mathematics and science subjects in the School Inspectorate s own annual and operational planning for inspection. The issue of poor performing students is not addressed in issued guidelines to the school inspectors. According to these guidelines the school inspectors are supposed to go through 148 items at each inspection. But only sixteen of these items are referring to the issue of poor performing students. The guidelines contribute to a more or less standardized behaviour with the inspections and this hampers the possibility for the school inspectors to provide the Government with adequate information, like advices on targeted and cost-effective measures, and on how to improve the education system in the country. x National Audit Office

11 From the randomly selected 110 inspection reports the audit revealed that, the issue of poor performing students is not efficiently addressed in the conducted school inspections. Failure to capture the issue of poor performing students in the School Inspectorate s planning and conducting of activities seriously hampers the efficiency and effectiveness of conducted inspections. The National Audit Office has found that the wide mandate for communication on the school inspection results is not always used in a suitable way to address the issue of poor performing students. Moreover majority of the recommendations in the school inspection reports can only be implemented by the Government and are thus aimed for the Ministry even if this is not clearly stated. And in many cases they are of general character, unrealistic and costly as they include a lot of additional resource. The National Audit Office has also found that there is room for improvement when it comes to the communication of the results of the school inspections. Although the Education Act directs that the school inspection reports are to be sent to the Chief Education Officer at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, other stakeholders like the District Administrative Secretaries who represent the Government at this level can also, be the recipients of these reports. It is also important that the results from the school inspection are genuinely communicated to Headmasters/ Mistresses and Teachers. Other options which can improve communication of the results of the inspections are delivering of compiled and analyzed data to the Government representatives like District Administrative Secretary (DAS), media and public opinion which have not yet been exploited. Failure to capture the issue of poor performing students in the school inspectorate s planning and conducting of activities to a greater extent hampers the efficiency and effectiveness of conducted school inspection programme We noted that there is no routine for monitoring and evaluation for conducted inspections which are important part of a learning system about implementation and impact of provided recommendations. Furthermore, there is no compilation of the recommendations, their implementation and the impact on schools performance. Main conclusion We conclude that, in order to enhance the performance of students in mathematics and science subjects in secondary school, there should be clear priorities in the planning of school inspection. The problem of poor performing students should be addressed during school inspection. School Inspection results should be widely communicated to all stakeholders and monitoring and evaluation of school inspection recommendations should be done on a routine basis. We recommend the following as the way forward On the way forward we recommend that: The Ministry should provide more clear priorities in their guidance for the School Inspections on how to address poor performance in secondary schools. A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme xi

12 The Ministry should request for compiled, problem oriented and analyzed information and conducted evaluations about poor performing students from the School Inspectorate. The School Inspectorate should be more problem oriented, learning system with increasing elements of follow up and evaluation and poorly performing schools should give priority to improving school leadership and establish a positive culture centred on teaching and learning for students. The School Inspectorate should efficiently communicate with concerned stakeholders about the result of the conducted inspections both in single cases and in general for follow up of schools progress with a desire to improve. The recommendations to teachers, Headmasters/Mistresses and other local stakeholders need to provide more of practical guidance, adjusted to observed and discussed situations in the schools during the conducted school inspections. Poorly performing schools need an assessment of their potential to improve and a plan that minimizes the number of students who fail particularly in Mathematics and Science subjects. More efforts should be done to identify and tackle the barriers that discourage potential students not in favour of Mathematics and Science subjects. SCRUTINY OF FACTS The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT), which is directly concerned with this report has been given the opportunity to correct factual errors in the draft report. We wish to put on record that the meetings with the Ministry under the School Inspectorate have been constructive. xii National Audit Office

13 CHAPTER ONE 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background Good education is important to any society and is often seen as a cornerstone of social and economic development. Since 1995 Tanzania has had a policy objective of enhancing equitable access to quality education to all of its citizens 1. However, according to official statistics, students in primary and secondary schools in Tanzania still have problems in vital subjects such as mathematics and sciences. In fact, a large number of students fail to pass the exams. This has been the case for many years, but the problem has become more critical and debated over the recent years. It has also been reflected in the media. 2 For example, the National Form Four Examination results in 2004, 2005 and 2006 failures in Mathematics were, 70%, 77% and 76% respectively. There is a complex relationship between poor results in Mathematics and Science subjects in the primary schools and how these poor results also manifest themselves in the secondary schools. For example, there is a different mix of subjects at the primary compared to the secondary level. Also, the primary schools are run in a decentralized system while the secondary schools are run in a centralized, nationwide system. The school inspection reports are separate for the primary and secondary schools and do not dwell on the mentioned relationship. The correlation between the primary and secondary education is acknowledged by NAOT but not focused in this performance audit. We limited ourselves to the school inspection reports at secondary school level. Obviously, the factors external to the secondary schools are necessary for the Ministry to take into account when addressing poor results in Mathematics and Science subjects in an optimum way. The results from the NAOT audit on the secondary level of education will hopefully contribute to the strategy formulation for both primary and secondary levels. Poor performing students in secondary schools in such vital subjects as mathematics and science represent a huge loss for the individuals as well as for the society. It affects the possibility for students to move on to higher education. It also hampers the ability for the Government to reach strategic development goals; not just for the education sector, but for the society and the country as a whole. Many issues have influence on the quality and the progress of schools and students performance. The students social and economic background as well as their parents education and engagement are examples of factors influencing the students performance. Some of these factors are perhaps not seen as influential by the government in a short term perspective. 1 See for instance Education Acts (1962,1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978) and Education and Training Policy for the United Republic of Tanzania, The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (1995) 2 Statistics from the National Examination Council of Tanzania, Daily News (March 14 and July 10, 2007; and February 13, 2008). Guardian (February 1, 2008). A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme 1

14 The Government is however not without means. In fact, it has a lot of instruments at its disposal. The government is for instance able to influence curriculum, number and competence of teachers, training materials, pedagogical practices etc. The school inspection is at the same time one important tool for the Government with the mission to notice and ensure the quality of good performance in the schools. This makes it important that the School Inspectorate conducts its duties in an efficient and effective way. There have earlier been indications showing that the school inspection is not as efficient and effective as intended. 3 Measures have also been taken to improve the situation. However, when it comes to students performance in secondary school, the results are still poor. 4 This indicates that the School Inspectorate is not efficiently addressing its mission to enhance good quality in education. The National Audit Office of Tanzania has therefore decided to conduct a performance audit in this area. 1.2 Purpose and audit questions The purpose of this audit is to examine whether the School Inspectorate appropriately fulfils its mission to safeguard good quality of training in secondary school. Inspection is the main instrument through which the School Inspectorate fulfils its mission. Or in other words, inspection is the core business. Consequently, the audit is mainly focused on how these inspections operate. This is done by an examination of actual school inspections, including planning, implementation and achievements. The National Audit Office has therefore chosen to examine whether the School inspection addresses the problem of poor performing students in secondary schools, given the resources available. The specific audit questions are the following: Does the planning by the school inspection genuinely address the problem of poor performing students in secondary schools? Are the school inspections conducted efficiently and effectively, do they address the major performance problems among students in secondary schools, and are essential shortcomings highlighted in the school inspection reports? Are the results of the inspections findings, conclusions and recommendations effectively communicated to various stakeholders? Are the achievements appropriately monitored and communicated, and are the recommendations given to the headmasters influential and effective? The answers to these questions allow for more than assessing how the School Inspectorate addresses the issue of poor performing students. These questions also illustrate how the Inspectorate in a wider sense conducts its work and how it fulfils its mission. 3 Education and Training Policy (1995) 4 According to official statistics from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, National Audit Office

15 1.3 Scope and limitation This audit covers the School Inspectorate within the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (formerly Ministry of Education and Culture). Within this department, focus is on the inspection programme and more specifically the inspection of secondary schools. This is one of the tasks of the School Inspectorate. Usually, the School Zonal Education inspectors carry out the inspections. The inspections of schools are carried out by eight zones, which perform their duties as mandated by the Education Act no, 25 of 1978, revision no 10 of The eight zones are: Eastern Western Highlands North eastern Central North western Southern Lake The School Inspectorate conducts various kinds of inspection and the audit covers all of them, but the main focus is on the whole school inspection which is dominant and regular. Follow-up and special inspections are studied in this audit for getting more overview as a context for the whole school inspections. For more information, see section 2.3. The audit focuses mainly on inspection of mathematics and science subjects and whether the inspection of secondary schools addresses the problem of poor performing students in those subjects. All information needed for the audit has been provided by the School Inspectorate. The examination covers mainly inspection activities during the period Some inspections conducted earlier as well as later, have also been examined. This has made it possible to provide more solid conclusions. A random based selection of a total 110 inspection reports have been reviewed (out of the total number of 1469 whole school inspections of secondary schools conducted during the investigation period). The selection is not proportional, i.e. the size of the zones is not regarded, and consequently the selection is not aimed to allow for comparisons between zones. 5 Accordingly, one has to be careful with generalisations. The selection of 110 inspection reports is regarded as a sufficient sample to address the audit questions mentioned above. First,because the school inspections are basically conducted in a uniform way. The inspections are based on structured and detailed guidelines, with pre determined items to be inspected at any course for each one of the inspections. This standardized and systematic way of conducting inspections clearly restricts the room for variation from one inspection to another. 5 Basic Education statistics in Tanzania 2005, 2006 and 2006, and Whole School Inspections reports for the period of A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme 3

16 Thus the information obtained by studies of a sample of 110 inspection protocols has been deemed to constitute a sufficient coverage. The observations from these inspection protocols have to be taken as a serious base for problem indication, analysis, and conclusions and recommendations in this Performance audit report. Second, the aim of the selection is not to generalise in a scientific manner, but to check patterns and tendencies in the inspectors behaviours. Systematic errors, if found, are generally seen as strong indications for need of corrective measures, even if the sample is not that large. The examination of the school inspections is mainly based on written documents, not so much on the oral communications between for instance inspectors and various stakeholders. In order to widen the scope and to get more information on matters not always available in documents, the National Audit Office has also conducted a large number of interviews. (Refer to appendix 1). The National Audit Office has found that the examined documents, especially the school inspection reports provide a solid base for the audit; they contain in most cases all the essential information needed. The examination is limited to secondary school and focuses on the School Inspectorate s efforts to safeguard the quality of training for students with special problems in certain subjects. The scope of the audit is in reality wider, however. First, some of the audit questions are not only limited to issues of school inspections. The audit questions also cover issues like communication and monitoring. Second, the aim of the audit is to asses the performance of school inspections in a wider sense, keeping in mind the perspective of poor performing students. The focus and the impact of school inspections depend, according to studies from different countries, on how the School Inspectorate is used as a tool for improvement of school results. According to conducted studies, it cannot be taken for granted that school inspection in itself is a progressive tool for the improvement of the schools and the students performance. On the contrary, there are studies showing that the impact on the students performance might be none or even negative in spite of a huge amount of resources spent on the school inspections. 6 Varying factors connected with the inspections that might promote the schools activities are however identified in other studies. Focus on educational outcome, i.e. the result of the education, and the processes required in order to achieve those results is one example. Promotion of interactions in the whole school system, including decision makers on central and local level is another example. 7 External follow up and evaluations of the inspections as well as the schools results are stressed as well 8 as important for the inspectors. Also, according to conducted studies, close discussions with the teachers on how effective they are and what they need to do to improve their situations with teaching and learning. 9 6 Ekholm M (2008)School inspections and school development in Sweden a waste of time and money. 7 Standaert R (2000) Inspectorates of education in Europe A critical analysis. 8 Matthews P/Sammons P (2004) Improvement through inspection an evaluation of the impact of Ofsted s work. 9 Sandahl R/Bringle S (2006) Skolverkets utbildningsinspektion ger den några effekter? Effektutvärdering genomförd på uppdrag av Skolverket. (The School Inspection does it have any impact?) 4 National Audit Office

17 According to policies and regulations, the issue of poor performing students is a major task for the School Inspectorate in Tanzania (See section 2.2). By examining how the issue of poor performing students is being addressed by the Inspectorate, the NAOT will also to a certain extent have the opportunity to assess how the School Inspectorate operates more in general and comment on how it fulfils its overall mission Implementation In undertaking the audit, a large number of documents have been examined, such as relevant Legal documents/acts, Policy documents, Regulations, Education Sector Review documents, Education and examination statistics, School inspector s guidelines and manuals, Inspection reports of various kinds, planning and follow up documents and other kinds of reports and documents from the School Inspectorate. Studies of relevant literature and research in the field, as well as different Web pages of relevance for the examination, are also included in the examination. A large number of interviews with various stakeholders involved in the administration of the inspection programme have been conducted. The interviews cover representatives from the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, managers and staff at central and regional level within the School Inspectorate. Other interviewed are teachers, headmasters/mistresses, members of school boards, students and parents of students. Also regional and district administrators and coordinators as well as some scientists and representatives from certain associations in the field have been interviewed. In order to examine and classify a selected choice of the inspection reports during , the National Audit Office has used a checklist and certain criteria. (For more information see section 4.1). The National Audit Office has also examined and classified all recommendations from the selected choice of reports provided during (For more information see section 6.3). During the audit, a workshop with members from the Ministry and experts in the field was conducted. The aim of the workshop was to discuss preliminary findings and get valuable feed back. A draft report was sent to the School Inspectorate in the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training for examination and clearance. Comments have been collected and discussed. Before finalizing the audit, the National Audit Office conducted an exit conference with the management of the Ministry. 1.5 Structure of the report This report comprises eight chapters structured as Introduction, description of school inspection system, planning and priorities, conducting school inspections, communication of results on school inspections, monitoring and impact, conclusions and recommendations. 10 According to comments from the School Inspectorate poor performing students is not a major task for the inspectorate. But NAOT has concluded the stated policy and regulation in another way. A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme 5

18 CHAPTER TWO 2. THE SCHOOL INSPECTION SYSTEM This chapter deals with a couple of issues regarding the development of the School Inspection in Tanzania. It covers the period after independence i.e up to date, starting with the development of School Inspection system, Government Policy on Secondary Education, School Inspection its role and responsibility, organisation and the details of the school inspection. 2.1 Education reforms and establishment of the school inspection From 1961 to date, analysis of Government efforts to improve education suggests that the focus of educational policies has for long been on the distribution and equalization of education opportunities through the expansion of the systems at all levels. The emphasis is now on the improvement of the quality of education, expansion of education and training opportunities to meet the ever increasing demand of these services. After the independence of Tanzania in 1961, the Government passed the Education Act of 1962 to regulate the provision of education in the country. Among other things the government abolished racial discrimination in the provision of education and streamlined the curriculum, examinations as well as the financing of education to be provided for uniformity. Between 1967 and 1978, the Government took several steps and enacted several laws in order to improve education. These laws and steps included inter alia, the Education Acts of 1969 and 1978; the Decentralization programme of 1972; the National Examination Council Act no 21 of 1973; and the Musoma Resolution of The Education Act no 25 of 1978 included the establishment of the School Inspectorate. 2.2 Education policy and the school inspection The Tanzania Development Vision 2025 envisages the total elimination of poverty by In this vision, the education sector is considered pivotal in bringing about social and economic transformation and states that: Education should be treated as strategic agent of mind-set transformation and for the creation of a well educated nation, sufficiently equipped with the knowledge needed to completely solve the development challenges which face the nation. The education policy creates the foundation for all activities under the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. The policy was adopted in year 1995 and has not been changed or updated since then. The policy focuses on issues of establishment of schools and expansion of education. The general aims of education and training is, according to the policy, among others to promote personal development, self-confidence, and productive skills, and to enable every citizen to understand their rights and responsibilities Education and Training Policy (1995) 6 National Audit Office

19 For the secondary school, the aim is among others to prepare all students for higher education. According to the policy the government shall ensure that adequate resources are made available and provided to enhance access and equity in education. It is further stated that, emphasis will be on the teaching of mathematics, science and technical subjects, since these subjects are of vital importance for the development of the country. 12 According to the Education Act number 25 of 1978, the inspection of schools should ensure that All schools comply with the Government s Education Policy and the Education Act. Appropriate recommendations should also be given to the headmaster or the headmistress. It might be worth mentioning that the Government s Education Sector Programme stated the following as important objectives: To improve the quality of education both formal and non formal through strengthening in-service training of teachers and tutors, supply adequate teaching and learning materials; rehabilitation of school/college and training institutions physical facilities; consolidate preservice teacher training programmes; promote research in education and training institutions; and strengthen monitoring and evaluation. To promote access and equity to education by encouraging equitable distribution of education institutions and resources; expand and improve girls education; ensure access to education for the special social and cultural groups; identify talented, children with disabilities and make sure they are given appropriate education and training and providing education facilities to disadvantaged areas. 13 The National Audit Office has interpreted these policies and regulations in the following way: Not only teachers but also school inspectors should give special attention to important subjects like mathematics and sciences. Consequently, in order for the secondary schools to comply with these policies, it s vital for the school inspectors to make strong efforts to contribute to good performance in these subjects The School inspection - purposes and obligations The purpose of the school inspection is to monitor the delivery of education and the adherence to the stipulated curriculum and the standards set, in order to safeguard good quality in education. The purpose is also to oversee the efficient and effective delivery of education and to supervise the schools. In addition, it is also aimed to provide feedback to education agencies, managers and administrators. 15 The general function of school inspectors is to ensure adherence to set policy, laws, regulations and standards of education in the school system of Tanzania. In order to achieve this, school inspectors are required to carry out the following specific functions. To inspect all schools and write reports with a purpose of advising the Chief Education Officer on matters which require decision making for improvement. 12 Education and Training Policy (1995) 13 According to the Web Page for the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training ( 14 Education and Training Policy (1995) 15 Education Act No 25 of 1978 and Education and Training Policy (1995) A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme 7

20 To inspect, educate and advise owners, managers, school boards/committees and teachers on good implementation of schools development plans. To initiate and conduct educational research and disseminate the information for the purpose of improving teaching standards in schools. To act as a link between the school, other institutions and the Ministry. To take part in book writing, book review and production of handouts and articles for various academic subjects. To pursue personal professional and academic development. To conduct in-service training for teachers. Carry out supervisory visits to improve the quality of teaching in schools. One may say that the school inspectors have three major roles to play, i.e. the inspection role, the advisory role and the development role. On the inspection role the inspector performs the following activities i.e. monitoring, assessing and evaluating quality of school instruction, school organisation and management and school environment. Regarding the advisory role the inspector is obliged to disseminate information on acceptable practices and innovation, curriculum implementation and review, identify training needs and organise close to school training (school based, ward or cluster level) and advice on establishing new schools. As development role is concerned, the inspector shall initiate, encourage and support projects of developmental nature in schools. The School Inspectorate produces various documents and reports, besides strategic, annual and action plans. The more important ones are the following: School inspection reports Whole school inspection (summary of findings and recommendations for each school inspection). Follow up inspection (reports on to what extent recommendations from a specifically selected and limited number of individual inspections has been implemented, a various number per year). Special school inspections (targeted inspections, dealing with specific issues, and the number may vary a lot). Periodic reports on activities (monthly, quarterly, mid year and annual). Handbooks and manuals Handbook for School Inspectors (1999) Training Manual for School Inspectors (1999) School Inspectors Training Manual (a revised version of the handbook, 2006) Research and evaluations (illustration) Report on the student performance in mathematics and science subjects for National form 2 examination, National Audit Office

21 National Form 2 Secondary Education Examination Results, Statistical Analysis (2000-to date). Fahamu Elimu publication no Funding The total amount of money spent on the school inspections by school Inspectorate is shown in table 1 below. Both the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure increased by more than 40% between the two last financial years, 2004/ /07. This increase of the total funding can possibly be explained by the increasing number of secondary schools during this period. However, during the years 2004/ /07 the percentage of inspected schools for each year does not vary proportionally to the actual expenditure per school. The yearly percentage of inspected schools fluctuated during these three years from 23 to 38 and 26 percent (See the sixth column in the table1). An overall calculation indicates at the same time that the actual expenditure per school was not growing, but the number of schools increased by 48%, from 1734 to 2567 schools. These figures reflect possibly changes in priorities within the School Inspectorate during this period. For the National Audit Office, these financial figures and number of inspections conducted require a study that is outside the scope of this performance audit. According to the School Inspectorate, the above can be explained by the situation that during this time period a lot of money was spent on special inspections that had been repeated several times. However, we think that the School Inspectorate should more closely analyse the reasons for the decreasing percentages of whole school inspections between 2005/06 and 2006/07, in spite of having more funds per school for inspections. Table 1. Budget and actual expenditure of the school inspectorate department for the year Financial year Budgeted amount (Tsh million) Actual expenditure (Tsh million) Number of secondary schools Funding per school (in Tsh million) Schools being inspected No % 2004/5 3, , /6 3, , /7 5, , Source: School Inspectorate 2.5. Organisation of the school inspection and key players. The general function of school inspection is to ensure adherence to set policy, laws, regulations and standards of education in the school system of Tanzania. A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme 9

22 In order to ensure that high quality of education is being delivered and good performance is sustained there is quite a good number of key players as indicated in the system graph below: Figure 1. System graph of the Organisation of School Inspectorate and key players. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING PERMANENT SECRETARY CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER CHIEF INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS ZONAL CHIEF INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS SECONDARY SCHOOLS INSPECTORS TEACHERS COLLEGE INSPECTORS PRIMARY SCHOOL INSPECTORS 10 National Audit Office

23 2.5.1 Organization and Management of the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. The Management of Education and Vocational Training is mainly through the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training. 16 The Ministry consists of eight departments: Office of the Chief Education Officer, Basic Education, Secondary Education, Teacher Education, Inspectors of Schools, Policy and Planning, Administration and Personnel, Vocational Training. Higher Education Within the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training the permanent secretary is responsible for preparing education policies and for the running of the various executive departments. The Chief Education Officer is responsible for implementing decisions taken by the Minister of Education and Vocational Training and the Permanent Secretary and for coordinating the activities within the line departments. The School Inspectorate is headed by the Chief Inspector of schools, who reports to the Chief Education Officer. The Chief Inspector of schools is supported by four sections namely management, basic education, secondary education as well as teacher education each being headed by head of section. The Chief Inspectorate Office is divided from Zonal levels to district levels whereby the District Chief Inspector reports to zonal chief inspector and Zonal Chief Inspector reports to the Chief Inspector of schools at the headquarters 17. This is depicted in the above system graph. At Zonal level, there are eight zones with their respective regions as follows: central zone covers Dodoma and Singida; eastern zone covers coast, Dar as Salaam, and Morogoro; highland zone includes Iringa, Mbeya and Rukwa; lake zone covers Kagera, Mara and Mwanza; north eastern zone covers Tanga and Kilimanjaro; north western zone holds Manyara and Arusha, southern zone covers Lindi, Mtwara and Ruvuma; and western zone covers Kigoma, Shinyanga, and Tabora. The Zonal level office also comprises three specialised sections, whose inspectors are responsible for coordinating and inspecting Basic Education (for primary schools), Secondary Education (for secondary schools) and Teacher Education (for teachers colleges). At district level the School Inspectorate in each administrative district has an office headed by a District Chief Inspector of schools, who directly reports to Zonal Chief Inspector. 16 The Ministry currently has Minister, Deputy Minister, Permanent Secretary, Chief Education Officer and Directors: Director, Basic Education, Director, Secondary Education, Director, Teacher Education, Director, Policy and Planning, Director, Administration and Personnel, Chief Inspector of Schools. and Vocational Training 17 Handbook for School Inspectors, the Ministry of Education and Culture (1999) and School Inspectors Training Manual, The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (2006). A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme 11

24 2.6 School Inspection target and performance The School inspection examines all aspects of the school as a place of learning based on the school development plan. The school inspection of secondary schools is to be conducted for three to five days depending on the size of the school. In zones, school inspections should be done at least once a year. Each school inspector will be expected to inspect at least thirty (30) schools in every financial year. School inspectors for secondary schools are required to inspect two subjects of their speciality every year. However, according to the School Inspectorate, due to inadequate personnel, lack of transport, lack of office, lack of office equipment and housing, a school is inspected at least once in every two years. The School Inspectorate has today over one thousand inspectors (1073). The total number of staff, including supporting staff, is Most (932) are inspectors for basic education. A minority (141) are inspectors for secondary schools and teacher training colleges. The number of inspectors for secondary schools increased during the last ten years to 163 inspectors in year By then the number of inspectors was reduced to 141. At the same period ie. 2005/06 to 2006/07 the number of secondary schools has, however, increased by about 300 per cent (from 800 to 3,400 schools to date), so the ratio of inspectors has decreased. Table 2. School Inspectors, inspections per team of inspectors of schools and secondary schools being inspected for the last three years Fiscal year Number of inspectors Inspections per team Number of sec. schools Schools being inspected Number % 2004/ / / Statistics from the School Inspectorate, for the last three years, indicate that the number of schools being inspected varies over time, as well as the number of inspections carried out by each team, which consists of 3-5 inspectors. 18 All these inspections cover subjects like mathematics and science. 2.7 The school inspection process The process of inspection requires the inspector to conduct inspections at various earmarked schools. Before carrying out inspection heads of schools are to be informed in advance about the inspection whenever possible so that they make available all necessary information for a successful inspection. 18 Statistics from the School Inspectorate 12 National Audit Office

25 During the first stage The pre-inspection meeting - the school inspectors meet the school administration for introduction and outlining of the purpose of their inspection visit. The inspectors are briefed by the school administration on the schools general status and performance. The school inspectors are required to meet teachers and other staff. Even students are subjected to inspection regarding attendance, performance and academic development. During the second stage The inspection the inspectors collect data about the school management and the administration, quality of teaching and learning and also the physical infrastructure of the school. During the inspection, the headmasters of the schools usually play the role in facilitating the inspection on matters involving the administration. Teachers also have a role of ensuring that professional due care is adhered to in the course of their work. At the following stage the post-inspection the inspector team discusses the findings and conclusions with the school staff and the school board. The third and last stage The school inspector is to write and to deliver a school inspection report to the relevant stakeholders. Members of the school boards should be acquainted with the results, as well as school owners i.e. the permanent secretary of the ministry, education agencies, managers and administrators at zonal, regional and district levels. The former handbook for the school inspectors (which forms the frame of reference and the content of the work) has basically been the same for the last ten years. Only minor changes have been made. That means that the inspections have a rather standardized format, regardless of problems and needs and regardless of whether certain issues, even strongly important ones, related to the government policies are more or less complied with by the schools Follow up and special school inspections The School Inspectorate conducts more than whole school inspections. It also conducts a small number of the follow up inspection and a varying number of special inspections. Follow up inspections are few and focus on what has happened as a result of earlier whole school inspection. They are not new inspections in that sense that they go beyond what has earlier been observed in the whole inspections. For more information, see section 4.4. However, it is of interest for our analysis of whole school inspections, to briefly describe the topic orientation of special inspections and find out if and possibly how they overlap with whole school inspections. The special school inspections may possibly contain information that is relevant for the results in Mathematics and Science subjects. The special school inspections are conducted at certain occasions: for instance, when schools are built, allegations of irregularities or if conflicts are at hand, when mismanagement is indicated etc. This means that the amount of school inspections may vary a lot over the years (a bit over 200 per year during the period and seven times as many the following two years). 19 For more information, see section 4.1 A Performance Audit Report On School Inspection Programme 13

26 The special inspections allow for some flexibility. Unlike whole school inspections, they examine specific issues. During the years 2004 and 2005 a majority of the special school inspections focused on physical, financial and administrative matters. Not one inspection addressed issues like pedagogics and students performance. This is shown in the table below. Table 3. Subject matters being addressed by the special inspections of secondary schools during the years 2004 and 2005 (The total number of inspections during this period was 428. Addressing issues has been analysed for all of them in this performance audit) 20 Subject matter School inspections addressing the issue Number Percentage Physical matters (School buildings, equipment etc) Finances/economic matters Administration/registration Other matters 24 2 The motives for conducting the special school inspections during this period were indications of irregularities or shortcomings. In most cases the inspections were based on suspected irregular behaviours, mainly of headmasters in financial and administrative matters. This is shown below. 20 N.B This additional analysis of special school inspection reports are not part of our sample of whole school inspections. 14 National Audit Office