Community and Local Government Authorities Partnership in the Provision of Primary Education in Urban Tanzania

Abstract

 This systematic literature review examined the partnership between the urban community and local government authorities in the provision of public primary schools in urban Tanzania. This study is guided by social capital theory and the review analyzed empirical studies published between 2020 and 2026.  The provision of primary education in urban Tanzania is facing major challenges due to high enrollment compared to rural areas. This study aims to examine the condition to which urban communities participate effectively in management, accountability, workforce performance and productivity as partners in LGAs in primary education development. The data from this study were sourced from ERIC, SCOPUS, Web of Science, AJOL, Research Gate, and Google Scholar. A total of 24 peer - reviewed studies met the inclusion criteria, including 12 empirical studies conducted in Tanzania. The study found that community participation has positive effects on students’ performance, teachers’ accountability and transparency. The demographic, social and economic factors play a vital role for effective community participation. Moreover, holistic engagement of community members would perhaps enhance more sustainable solutions by identifying cultural barriers to transformative participation. Evidence from sub - Saharan Africa, including Tanzania, demonstrates that government should conduct community awareness on the importance of participation as well as to sensitize communities on the value of primary education and the importance of their participation in community development programs to support education. However, the effectiveness of community participation and LGAs partnership constrained by low awareness, gender imbalance, and unequal tight working schedules.  The review concludes that community participation is very crucial in provision of quality primary education by removing barriers which limit access, equity and quality of primary education for our future generation.