Tanzanian head teachers’ coping strategies in situations of critical shortages of teaching and non-teaching staff

Abstract

The government effort to expand secondary schooling in Tanzania has resulted in a tremendous increase in the number of secondary schools. However, this positive achievement has resulted in a critical shortage of both teaching and non-teaching staff. Yet, despite this shortage, schools continue to operate and many students are attending and completing their secondary education. This paper presents the qualitative findings of a study of the coping strategies used by head teachers in situations of critical shortages of teaching and non-teaching staff, which enable them to continue to offer teaching and learning services. The paper also discusses the implications of the strategies used in the teaching and learning process. The study was conducted in ten secondary schools in the Temeke District, Dar es salaam region. The study sample was selected using purposeful, simple random sampling techniques and convenience sampling strategies, and included 10 head teachers, 1 District Educational Officer, 70 teachers and 12 non-teaching staff. The findings suggest that, in the studied schools there was an acute shortage of teachers and non-teaching staff, and that the head teachers cope by: (1) overloading the existing staff by assigning them multiple responsibilities; (2) leaving some duties neglected; (3) assigning roles to staff members who are unqualified to perform them; and (4) recruiting form six graduates to serve as part-time teachers. On the basis of these findings, the researcher proposed ways forward for minimizing the shortage of staff and the negative consequences of the mechanisms used in situations of acute shortage of staff to facilitate the teaching and learning processes.