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mplications and Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Crisis to Marketing field: Experience from Tanzania Universities’ Students
Get PDFThis is a survey article sharing experiences from COVID-19 crisis in developing country like Tanzania. COVID-19 crisis in Tanzania was announced early this year. Since then the government and people of Tanzania have been trying on fighting the pandemic. Tanzania decided not to take the common way of lock downs like most countries in order to contain the spread of the disease. The government urged people to take precautions while continue working. One of the precautions was closing universities. Now this article is putting forward the implications and lessons learned from COVID-19 by marketing students after closure of the universities. Experience is drawn from 26 students using snowball sampling procedure where in- depth interviews were conducted to undergraduate and working part-time graduate students. The sample was taken from public and private universities and cross section research design was used. Content analysis was carried out. Collaborations and sharing digital learning experience before crisis universities and businesses were the summary findings. Thus there are lot to learn by universities, students and businesses as a result of the crisis
Financial Inclusion and Cluster-Based Industrialization
No full textThere are two related lines of arguments which forms twin objectives for this study. The first is to assess how financial inclusion may spur industrilization in Africa, and the second is to assess how industrialization may prosper where there is clustering of SMEs/industrial activities in Africa. The study employs a quantitative approach where regression analysis is used employing secondary data from the World Bank Development Indicators for Seven African economies. The study found that clustering promotes industrial growth. It has also found lack of evidence for the role of financial inclusion in promoting industrial growth. It also did not find statistical evidence for joint effects of these factors on industrialization. It calls for policy dressing and specific researches in the areas of clustering properties and financial inclusion and their effects on industrial growth. Key words: financial inclusion, clustering, industrialization, industrial growt
Mathematics Performance across Gender and Who Owns a School
No full text"Mathematics performance has always been low in Tanzania among primary school learners. The low performance is contributed by multiple factors most of which emanate from the investment and usage of resources. Some schools especially the public ones are in most cases low resourced when compared with their counterpart private schools. The study compared results in mathematics at Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) between public and private schools and between boys and girls. The National Primary School Leaving Examination results of 2016 of twenty schools were analysed. Private schools were found to do better than public schools. Boys were found to do better than girls in general and in public schools. The study adds to the existing discussion about gender parity in mathematics performance. Recommendations made suggest more investment in resources and effective use of the same should be done especially in public schools. Suggestions are further made on addressing both school-based factors and how schools relate to the immediate surrounding society.  Key Terms: mathematics performance, primary schools, gender, public, and private-owned school
Children's Perception of the Teacher-Child Relationship in Tanzania: (Dis)Similarities among Children with Internalizing Versus Externalizing Behavior
Get PDFIn this study we examined the perception of young children with internalizing and externalizing behavior of their relationship with their teacher and their (di)similarities of their perception. The relationship with the teacher focused on warmth, conflict and autonomy support. Ninety-two (92) respondents, 40 children with internalizing behavior and 52 children with externalizing behavior, participated in the study. A series of two-way MANOVA’s was used to analyze the data. Overall, findings revealed that children from both groups roughly reported to experience disharmonious and conflitual relationships with their teachers and amore directive instruction from the teachers. Furthermore, children with internalizing behavior perceived more warmth in their relationship with teachers than children with externalizing behavior. These findings highlighted the difficulties experienced by both groups in their relationship with their teachers. We propose that teachers should be trained to identify and help children with internalizing and externalizing behavior
An Assessment of Challenges Primary School Teachers’ Face in the Implementation of Integrated Social Studies Subject in Rungwe District, Mbeya Region-Tanzania
Get PDFThe study assessed challenges primary school teachers’ face in the implementation of Social Studies subject in Rungwe District, Mbeya region. The study applied a qualitative study approach founded on the interpretive philosophy which believes on studying issues from the natural settings i.e. realistic environment. The study was carried out in six (6) purposive selected primary schools. The study was augmented by the social constructivism theory. Use of social constructivism theory was undermined by its principle belief that the teacher just like the learner is borne independent and that he/she needs to practice such freedom wherever he/she is. The argument is that the teacher or the learner is a social and autonomous being rich of life experience and that classroom practices need to appreciate that and see that at some point, the teacher becomes the learner and the learner becomes the teacher while the two live in a fluid relationship and not that of a cat and rate relationship. The study used classroom observation, documentary review and semi-structured interview to collect data from a group of 13 participants including six Social Studies teachers, six head teachers and one school inspector officer. Collected data were analyzed using content analysis. Based on the study findings; inadequate supply of social studies T/L resources, teaching in overcrowded classrooms, shortage of qualified and experienced Social Studies teachers, lack of acceptance level of integration body of knowledge, and lack of in-service training about implementation of the new Social Studies subject seemed to limit and adversely impact teachers’ practices. As a result, Social Studies teachers rarely taught the lesson in connection to pupils’ day to day life i.e. linking theories of the subjects to the students’ real life experience. Actively engaging teachers in any educational or curriculum innovation was seen important for future improvement
Barriers to Prison Education: A Tanzanian Perspective
Get PDFThis article discusses the barriers to prison education from a Tanzanian perspective. The paper addresses one major research question, “What are the barriers to prison education in the Tanzanian context?”. This qualitative study employed a multiple-case study design, which involved 51 participants, including 28 inmates, six (6) inmate-teachers, 14 prison officers from five prisons, two (2) representatives from the Institute of Adult Education and a District Adult Education Officer. The data were mainly collected through individual and focus group interviews. Focus Group Interviews were employed to collect information from some inmates who were available in groups. Data from the rest of the participants, including some inmates, were collected through Individual Interviews. Thematic analysis was used to process the data. The study found two main categories of barriers – the prison and imprisonment situation and dispositional – that inhibited participation in prison education. The findings suggest that most prisoners were affected by the barriers associated with the “prison and imprisonment situation”; a few were affected by dispositional barriers. It is suggested here that Tanzania should do more to improve prisoners’ access to education in tune with global tendencies to widen participation amid marginalised populations
Predicting Academic Staff Intention to Stay in Tanzanian Universities Using Job Embeddedness Model: Smart PLS Approach
No full textTurnover is one of the reasons for the inadequacy of academic staff in Tanzanian universities as in many other African countries. This study examined the relationship between job embeddedness and academic staff Intention to Stay in Tanzanian Universities, as a key step towards combating the problem of turnover. A survey of 314 academic staff from selected public and private universities in Tanzania was conducted and Smart PLS Structural Equation Modeling was used in examining the relationship. Further, PLS-MGA was conducted to examine whether a significant difference exists in the influence of job embeddedness on the intention to stay among academic staff in Public and Private Universities. The findings indicated that Job Embeddedness sufficiently predicted academic staff Intention to Stay in Tanzania's universities, with organization fit and organization sacrifice exerting main influences. The relationships varied between public and private universities with stronger relationships in private than in public universities. It was concluded that job embeddedness is an important predictor of intention to stay, and its inclusion in retention models may improve retention of academic staff in Tanzania's universities. Private Universities in Tanzania may especially find more affirmative results in terms of retention, by improving the fit between their academic members of staff and their universities.Keywords: Job embeddedness, Academic staff, Intention to stay, Tanzania’s universities.Â
Assessment of Minerals, Heavy Metals in Soil and Vegetables Cultivated in Mbezi Luis, Ubungo Municipality: Associated Health Risks to Consumers
Get PDFThe present study was intended to determine the levels of minerals and heavy metals in Green Leafy Vegetables (GLV) and soil at Ubungo, Dar es Salaam City, so as to establish the risk associated with consumption of these vegetables. These GLV can absorb heavy metals through contaminated soil and irrigation water sources. The samples were digested by dry-ashing techniques and the minerals and heavy metals were determined using atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS).The concentration of Pb in all GLV samples ranged between 0.23 and 8.51 mg/kg, where about 78% were higher than TBS acceptable limit (0.3 mg/kg). Zinc concentration ranged from 26.24 mg/kg to 57.34 mg/kg where about 22% of these GLV detected high concentration than joint FAO/WHO allowable limit of 47.4 mg/kg. The heavy metals concentration in the soil was 24.41 mg/kg for Pb and 9.60 mg/kg, both of them lower than WHO/FAO permissible limit of 50 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg respectively. The ratio between sodium and potassium in all samples analysed is < 1. Therefore, consumption of the selected leafy vegetables in this study could probably serve to reduce high blood pressure diseases to consumers. The Target Hazard Quotient (THQ) showed that Pb ranged between 0.001 – 0.026, while Zn ranged between 0.081 – 0.178. These values were far less than 1 in all the vegetables species. Therefore, there is no health risk associated with the current level of exposure to a given substance and the population under study is considered to be safe. Mineral content analyzed in this study showed that the vegetables contained appreciable amounts of macro-minerals like magnesium, calcium and potassium which work synergistically to maintain optimal health by keeping the body and tissue fluids from being too acidic or too alkaline and hence allowing for exchange of nutrients between body cells
Free Basic Education and Gender Disparities in Tanzania: An Empirical Assessment of Challenges and Policy Options
Get PDFThis article seeks to evaluate whether free basic education is contributing to the achievement of inclusive education for girls in line with the global Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all as envisaged by the Education and Training Policy of 2014 (ETP (2014)). The study objective was toidentify key areas of gender disparities in free basic education. It investigatedwhat needs to be done in-order to restore gender parity and promote inclusive and equitable education in the public education system in Tanzania. The study is based on empirical analysis of published basic education statistics to arrive at correlation analysis between gender and key statistical indicators for education improvement mainly using excel worksheet and the statistical package for data analysis known as STATA. Empirical data analysis was supplemented by a review of secondary data and archival sources on basic education performance since 2016. The main conclusion of the study wasgender disparities were increasing with education level leaving females disproportionately deprived; and that social and cultural disparities impinged on gender parity in public educatio
Mobile Phones, a Virtue or a Bomb for Tanzanian Secondary Students?
Get PDFThis study investigated the position of the use of mobile phones in secondary schools in Tanzania. It examined perceptions of secondary school teachers and students on the importance of students’ use of mobile phones as among the learning resources in classroom and the reasons associated with the prohibition of mobile phones in secondary schools in Tanzania. A total of 60 participants were engaged, 40 secondary school students and 20 secondary school teachers all from two secondary schools in Ilala municipality, Dar es Salaam region. Data were collected using open-ended questionnaires, focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and documentary review. Through inductive data analysis, it was revealed that participants had varied responses regarding the importance of students’ use of mobile phones, and the reasons associated with their prohibitions in secondary schools in Tanzania. Teachers had a view that mobile phones would facilitate self-directed learning among learners while the position of the majority of students was that mobile phones would contribute to in-depth learning in various subjects. The study concluded that the government of Tanzania should involve key stakeholders in sharing experiences in establishing mobile phones monitoring software, rules and policies regarding the suitability or faults of various decisions related to educational matters including the use of mobile phones in classroom learning