Influence of Total Quality Management on Students’ Academic Achievement in Public Secondary schools in Ifakara Town Council

Abstract

The issue of quality education has become one of the major concerns among government leaders, policymakers and various educational stakeholders. Yet, the application and usefulness of Total Quality Management (TQM) in public secondary schools in Tanzania has remained vague and at times problematic. This study examined the benefits of implementing TQM for the improvement of students’ academic achievement in public secondary schools. For the purpose of this study, Total Quality Management refers to a management approach in which the school's departments, resources and activities are deliberately organized to improve quality and achieve pre-determined educational goals. In conducting this study, a mixed research approach with the convergent parallel design was adopted. Data was collected through interviews and open-ended questionnaires involving 112 respondents from four public secondary schools in Ifakara Town Council, Morogoro, Tanzania. The findings indicate that TQM improves classroom instruction, contributes to employees’ continuous improvement and promotes teamwork among organization departments. Likewise, the findings indicate that TQM enhances good leadership and encourages goal setting in the organization which leads to students’ academic achievement. The paper concludes with recommendations on the interventions to be adopted as a means of promoting the effectual implementation of TQM in public secondary schools. Heads of schools as key implementers of TQM are encouraged by this study to utilize the available resources to promote quality services as well as establishing a model for TQM implementation for students’ academic achievement

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“…Education is one of the important aspects that must be strengthened since the progress of a country depends on its underlying education system (Kakingo & Lekule, 2021;OECD, 2015). The quality of education refers to the extent to which the education system is able to achieve the generally accepted educational goals that focus on the knowledge and skills of its implementers, namely teachers, to realize the nation's educational goals.…”