The Motivations, Constraints and and Behavior of Tanzania’s Frontline Providers Education Providers

Jacobus Cilliers and I co-authored a research note that examines the activities, attitudes and behaviors of Ward Education Officers in Tanzania. WEOs are responsible for working with Head Teachers and other school level officials to improve education quality.

The main findings are below:

  1. Ward Education Officers (WEO) are responsible for a wide range of activities when they visit schools, but there is high variation across districts in what they do. This finding suggests that government and other education stakeholders can do more to standardize WEOs’ activities and target ones that will improve school quality.
  2. WEOs often lack the resources they need to visit schools. Although almost all WEOs in Tanzania have received a motorbike to visit schools, the majority still do not have sufficient budget for fuel and maintenance.
  3. WEOs report high job satisfaction overall. However, they are less satisfied with their opportunities for promotion and salaries.
  4. WEOs note that their performance is rarely rewarded, even though they believe that their manager knows if they are performing well.
  5. Although WEOs report having a high level of authority and autonomy, their job is more difficult due to the fact that different people expect different things from them.

More information available at the link above.

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