This study investigated the School Quality Assurance (SQA) strategies in enhancing learning achievement among Public Primary Schools (PPSs) in Arusha Region, Tanzania, using a cross-section descriptive design. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from 226 participants. Qualitative data was analyzed using a thematic approach and quantitative data through descriptive statistics, ordinal regression and Spearman’s rho correlation. The study revealed that visiting schools regularly, follow-up visits, releasing SQA feedback on time, friendly language, supporting professional development, visiting schools without prior information and involving teachers in SQA practices enhanced learning achievement. Poor transport facilities, shortages of SQAOs and inadequate SQA facilities limited the implementation. While insufficient fund caused SQAOs failure to visit every school in a year, delayed written reports made schools fail to implement SQA recommendations on time. The study recommended that the government of Tanzania should allocate required resources such as employing more qualified officers, adequate provision of funds and transport facilities to facilitate SQA practices. Furthermore, the government needs to support SQAD by continuously conducting short courses on lesson preparation and classroom management in order to support teachers in improving teaching skills. SQAOs need to handle teachers in a friendly manner that promotes trust, thus enhancing quality of their exercise.

This study examined the enrichment of school quality assurance (SQA) practices in public primary schools (PPSs) in the Arusha region, Tanzania, adopting a descriptive cross-section research design. Data was collected using interviews and questionnaires from 226 respondents. Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach and quantitative data via descriptive statistics. Findings indicated availability of funds, adequate School Quality Assurance Officers (SQAOs), effective implementation of SQAOs' recommendations, involving teachers in SQA practices, positive relationships between teachers and SQAOs, and regular in-service training for SQAOs contributed to SQA practices improvement. However, insufficient funds, shortages of the District SQAOs, poor implementation of SQAOs' recommendations, little cooperation from schools, and irrelevant subjects’ expertise among SQAOs limited effective SQA practices. To effectively execute SQA practices, there is a need to mitigate such limiting factors. The study recommends that the government invest more in SQA practices by providing enough funds for sufficient school visits, recruiting adequate SQAOs, supporting SQAOs’ recommendations implementation, and establishing special in-service training programs for SQAOs to enhance their professional skills. SQAOs widely need to involve schools in SQA practice.

This study examined School Quality Assurance (SQA) criteria for enhancing learning achievements in Public Primary Schools (PPSs) in the Arusha region, Tanzania, adopting a concurrent research design under a mixed methodology approach. Researchers used semi-structured interviews and closed and open-ended questionnaires for data collection from 226 respondents. Qualitative data were analyzed using a thematic approach, and quantitative data via descriptive and ordinal regression statistics. The study revealed that unawareness, poor understanding, inadequate utilization, infeasibility, and inflexibility of the SQA criteria harmed learning achievements. The lack of familiarity stemmed from insufficient training and limited accessibility of SQA handbooks        among School Quality Assurance Officers (SQAOs) and teachers, resulting in the ineffective implementation of SQA criteria during school assessments. The infeasible and inflexible nature of the criteria failed to address the unique challenges faced by each school. The study found a significant positive relationship between awareness, effective utilization, feasibility, flexibility and sharing of SQA criteria, alongside fair judgments by SQAOs and learning achievements, as their probability values were less than .05. The study recommended in-service training programs on SQA criteria to equip SQAOs, headteachers, and teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge for effectively implementing SQA criteria in the school assessments to enhance learning achievements.