Education Partnerships-Principle of Education Competition: Comparing Competition Environment Between Public and Private Secondary Schools: A Case Study of Tanga District, Tanga Region, Tanzania

Education Partnership is an instrumental tool for enhancing education performance, capitalising on the advantages gained from its competitive nature. However, the merits inherited from education PPPs can be successfully harnessed if there is a structured environment for private and public sectors to equally participate in the provision of education. This study therefore assessed the conditions and environment in which public and private schools operate and academically compete. The study was guided by a phenomenological research design so as to get a detailed understanding of the research problem. A purposive sampling technique was used to obtain the study sample from the selected secondary schools. The study sample therefore included 01 DEO (Secondary Section), 04 heads of secondary schools, 02 from public and private schools respectively, making a total sample size of 05. The data collection method included a structured interview in which structured and follow-up questions were used to collect information related to the study problem. Collected data were analysed using thematic analysis, following the six steps of Braun and Clarke (2006). Study findings revealed that there is unfair academic competition between public and private secondary schools because of the presence of an unequal environment and conditions in which the two categories of schools operate