Exploration of Students’ Satisfaction with Support Provided by Teachers for Subject Selection in Secondary Schools in Magu District, Tanzania

Abstract

This study explored whether students’ were satisfied with support provided by teachers in subject selection in secondary schools in Magu district. A mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data was used, with a convergent parallel design. The study involved the population of 1992 which included 1969 students, 23 head of schools. Moreover, the sample size of the study included 101 respondents comprising of 95 students, and 6 school heads. Simple random sampling was used to sample students and purposive sampling was employed to sample head of schools. Data collection instruments used included a student questionnaire and an interview for heads of schools. The results revealed that students were not satisfied by support provided by teachers especially in provision of clear information about the available subjects, information about subject pre requisites for higher education, how teachers link subject content to careers, selecting subjects according to interests and learning styles as well as information subject combination according to Education and Training Policy. The study recommended that teachers’ expertise should be enhanced through ongoing professional development and establishing structured support systems like academic counseling programs and career clubs. Again, educational policies should provide a system through which students should be provided with a foundation of understanding regarding subject selection starting from primary education.