The Free Basic Education Provision in Tanzanian Public Schools and the Existence of Street Children

The paper examines the influence of the free basic education provision on the street children existence using a concurrent triangulation research design. A purposive sampling and a convenience sampling techniques were employed to select a total of 200 respondents in Mwanza city. Data were collected through a likert-type questionnaire, interview and focus group discussions. Quantitative data from questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics while the qualitative data from interviews and FGDs were organized through thematic analysis. Findings indicated that, to a great extent the street children are ready to learn in schools. However, some indirect costs of schooling are still challenging. Based on this ground, findings reveal that to a very high extent the number of street children found to remain fairly constant despite of inception of the free basic education provision. Furthermore, the study found that the most appropriate possible remedy for the problem of street children is the establishment of well equipped boarding inclusive schools achieved by enforcing by-laws governing the enrollment of school age children. However, the findings reveal that there should be full government sponsorship covering direct and indirect costs for street children to afford schooling. The study has important implications for researchers, policy makers and, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The paper recommends that there should be a prompt revisit of the Education and Training Policy of 2014 to involve street children in the provision of the free basic education. Key words: Free basic education, Street children, Street children existence, Tanzania DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/15-3-01 Publication date: April 28th 2025