Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / This study is an evaluative analysis of the performance of Advanced Level (A-level)
female students in schools for the academically talented in Tanzania. The pass rates of
female students at Advanced Level in such schools are consistently lower than those of
males, particularly in mathematics and science. The available literature on special schools
in Tanzania is very limited. There are a number of related resources available concerning,
for example, performance indicators for primary and secondary schools. This study
would add to the sparse literature concerning factors which influence the performance of
both female and male Tanzanian students who are academically talented.
The study gives attention to feminist perspectives within an educational evaluation
framework. This is because evaluation is a process of determining to what extent
particular educational objectives are actually being realised. It is based on student
performance, curricula and instructional materials, school personnel, educational
programmes and projects, education institutions and organisations. The main argument of
the thesis largely draws on a liberal, socialist feminism and empowerment approach to
education and seeks to explain and change historical systems of sexual differences
according to which females and males are socially constituted and positioned in relations
of hierarchy and antagonism (Haraway, 1989).
Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews, and by observation. Both
quantitative and qualitative thematic content was used to analyse data. The respondents in
this study involved four special schools (two for female and two for male students) with
ten participants from each school. The data obtained from male students was used for comparative purposes. The sample also involved four heads of schools, two teachers
from each school, two zonal inspectors (Eastern and Central zone) and the director of
secondary schools.
The study reveals that male students' performance in special schools is better than their
female counterparts. The reason for this is inadequate provision of teaching and learning
materials such as textbooks and an uneven distribution of teachers in schools for female
which leads to a high teaching workload. In addition, there is a shortage of female
graduate teachers who can act as female role models. Other factors include social cultural
aspects and differential gender expectations for males and females in a society. All of
these issues disadvantage females in relation to male students.
This study r~commends that the government through the responsible Ministry should:
increase the resources to these schools so as to create conducive learning environment for
students and teachers; ensure even distribution of graduate teachers; encouraging more
females to enroll in science and mathematics subjects; in order to be role models for
younger students and recruit more· female graduates teachers specialised in science and
mathematics. Future research should involve all special schools as well as other ordinary
schools both private and public with a large sample.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/7091 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Njau, Anna John Malasi |
| Contributors | Stander, Christen |
| Publisher | University of the Western Cape |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | University of the Western Cape |
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