Evaluation of Co-operative Education and Training for Sustainable Agricultural Marketing Co-operative Societies in Ukerewe and Sengerema Districts, Tanzania

Abstract

In the world today, co-operative societies are important to the extent that cooperators have opted to ensure their sustainability by establishing guiding principles, education and training. With this regard, the Tanzanian government has made efforts to ensure regular provision of Co-operative Education and Training (CET) in each co-operative society. However, CET provision in Tanzania remains unevaluated and mal-evaluated, resulting in unsustainable, dormant and extinct co-operative societies. Yet, the extant studies on CET are too general as they cover the overall performance of the co-operatives, leaving out CET evaluation unexplored. This study evaluates CET in Tanzania by determining the status of CET and examining the practice of CET evaluation in Ukerewe and Sengerema districts. Findings were drawn from 64 respondents using purposive sampling technique. Data were collected through focus group discussions, key informant interviews and documentary review. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The study used a context, input, process, and product (CIPP) model of education evaluation to examine the practice of CET evaluation. The findings revealed that regardless of the existence of CET evaluation both formative and summative, there were some shortfalls. In terms of practice, the findings revealed that CET was seasonal while the context, input, process and product evaluation were unsatisfactory; hence confirming the poor trend of cooperative societies’ development. The study concludes that CET is still a necessity to ensure both the status of CET and practice. The study recommends CET institutions to prepare a centralised curriculum for all co-operatives and review CET regularly to suit societal needs. The government should set aside funds for CET and needs assessment to avoid irrelevant knowledge to the co-operators.