Parents’ Views on the Effect of the Fee-Free Education Policy on Pupils’ Academic Performance in Public Primary Schools in Kishapu District Council, Tanzania

Abstract

Tanzania abolished fees in public basic education in 2016, and enrolment rose sharply thereafter. Whether that expansion translated into better learning remains contested, and parents’ assessments of the policy have received little attention in rural districts. Drawing on Education Production Function theory, this study examined parents’ views on the effect of the Fee-Free Education Policy on pupils’ academic performance in public primary schools in Kishapu District Council, Tanzania. The study adopted a pragmatic paradigm and a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design. Questionnaires were administered to 61 parents. Semi-structured interviews were then held with 25 key informants: 7 parents drawn from the questionnaire sample, 8 head teachers, 8 Ward Education Officers, the District Education Officer, and the district school quality assurer (79 unique respondents). Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data through thematic analysis. Parents rated the policy favourably on reduced household financial burden (M = 3.70, SD = 1.23) and improved attendance (M = 3.54, SD = 1.29), but unfavourably on textbook adequacy (M = 2.36, SD = 1.23) and only moderately on the teacher–pupil ratio (M = 2.79, SD = 1.31). Views on academic performance were widely spread (M = 3.28, SD = 1.27). Interviews attributed this division to shortages of textbooks and exercise books, class sizes that prevented individual attention, and uneven follow-up on pupils at home and at school. Read through Education Production Function theory, the findings describe a policy that has strengthened one input, access, while leaving the complementary inputs that convert attendance into learning largely unchanged. The study recommends that capitation grants be tied to verified textbook–pupil ratios, that teacher deployment be weighted towards the most overcrowded rural schools, and that classroom construction be sequenced against enrolment projections rather than current shortfalls.