Availability and Adequacy of Teaching and Learning Resources as Determinants of Vocational Education Integration into the Public Secondary School Curriculum in Kilolo District, Tanzania: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract

The study explored how well vocational education is incorporated in public secondary school curriculum in Kilolo District, Tanzania, given the availability and sufficiency of the teaching and learning resources. Based on the Open Systems Theory, the study used a convergent parallel mixed methods design. The quantitative data was obtained by employing the stratified random sampling method in 139 teachers of 5 public secondary schools using a structured questionnaire. The data for the qualitative strand were collected using purposive sampling of heads of schools and teachers through semi-structured interviews. The results of multiple regression analysis of quantitative data showed that the level of vocational education integration can be predicted by the availability and level of resources with F(3, 130) = 52.87, p <.001 and the variance explained is 55% (R² =.55). Availability/adequacy of specialized equipment (β =.43, p <.001), availability/adequacy of instructional material (β =.34, p <.001), and availability/suitability of practical training facility (β =.27, p <.01) were the best predictors. These trends were supported by qualitative results, in which equipment was frequently “present but incomplete,” supplies of consumables were also subject to poor funding and infrastructure was unstable, thus imposing hidden restrictions. The composite resource indices for the urban schools were significantly higher than that of the rural schools (t = 3.89, p <.001). Based on the study, the following recommendations were made; District-level vocational education resource management centre should be set up, a consumables budget line should be provided and a plan for differentiated resource allocation should be set up to enhance the provision of vocation education in secondary schools.