Training Needs of Ward Education Officers for Ensuring Quality Education a Study of Primary Schools in Mkuranga District, Tanzania.

This study was set to find out the training needs of Ward Education Officers` in ensuring Quality Education in Tanzania. It mainly focuses on determining WEO`s supervisory training needs that will enable them to ensure quality education provisions in schools in Mkuranga District, highlighting the challenges that WEO's face while carrying out supervision of schools and establish the remedial measures to the identified challenges WEO's face in Mkuranga District. The study sample comprised of 26 informants made up of 25 WEO`s and 1 District Education Officer (DEO). A concurrent transformative mixed method approach was applied because each method of data collection complements each other. Questionnaires and interview guide questions were used to collect data from the respondents. The reliability of quantitative data was established through Cronbach- Alpha where by (r=0.828 for WEO`s questionnaire) while reliability for qualitative data was established through trustworthiness. Quantitative data was analyzed by using descriptive analysis to generate frequency, means and percentages by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25 Computer while Qualitative data was analyzed thematically and presented in words by verbatim quotations. The study concluded that, WEOs are facing the challenges that hinder their ability to provide effective supervision for ensuring quality education in schools. Such major challenges include lack of training, inadequate resources and lack of cooperation from the community in which they work. WEOs are in dire need for training in order to enable them supervises school for ensuring quality education. The study therefore recommends that, the program designers plan for supervising training to the WEOs either before being appointed or the inset training if they want WEOs to fit into there jobs. Also WEOs should only be selected among teachers who have the knowledge of education management and supervision.