RUAHA CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

This paper identified the challenges which interfere with external quality assurance in maintaining school performance in Tanzania. The respondents involved in the study were secondary school teachers, heads of schools and external quality assurers. A mixed-methods research was used to collect data through questionnaires, interviews, and documentary reviews. The findings identified the following challenges: frequent curriculum changes, insufficient funds, lack of training for external quality assurers, working conditions of external quality assurers, external quality assurers‘ visits and the shortage of external quality assurers. Finally, the study concluded that external quality assurance is a critical and congenial process in which quality assurance cannot manage on itself without support and cooperation from other stakeholder such as students, teachers and other leaders/administrators, policy makers and academicians. Moreover, it is recommended that the government should provide schools with enough funds, resources and infrastructure in order to improve teaching and learning environment, which will lead to the promotion of schools‘ performance hence quality of education.

Challenge, Education, Quality Assurance, Performance