The Influence of School Self-Reliance Projects in Enhancing Students’ Academic Performance in Morogoro Municipality

Abstract

The study on the influence of school self-reliance projects in enhancing students’ academic performance was conducted in Morogoro Municipality. The study was guided by the following research objective; to explore the uses of income generated from the available school self-reliance project in private secondary schools in Morogoro Municipality. The study used a sample of 50 respondents and the data were collected through questionnaires and interviews and were analysed thematically and by using descriptive statistics. Data were extracted from primary and secondary sources. The study revealed the following; the dominant income generation projects which were identified in the field were; farming (vegetables), brick making, livestock keeping, school shop and canteen. These were the dominant self-reliance projects which are used by the school management to produce extra income within school compounds. The study also revealed that from 2017 to 2020, St. Peter’s Junior Seminary generated 10,456,400 million Tz shillings from income generation projects, Kitungwa Secondary School generated 163,245,000 million Tz shillings while Kigurunyembe secondary school generated 5,370,250 million Tz shillings from the available income generation projects. The study revealed that most of the income generated is used to pay for water and electricity bills for the advantage of students and teachers, conduct remedial classes, provide lunch for teachers, buy school facilities, maintenance of school buildings and employ teachers and non-teachers. The study recommends that School-based income generation projects are very important as they help heads of schools to produce additional funds for improving quality education provision in secondary schools rather than depending on school fees, loans and grants from donors who are sometimes not reliable. Through such activities, heads of schools are in the position of ensuring a constant supply of teaching and learning materials, construction, and maintenance of physical infrastructures such as the library, laboratories, dormitories, dining and assembly halls, and staff houses and motivating students, teachers, and non-teachers to do their work up to their best