Divergent Family Attitudes toward Secondary Education in Tanzania: A Comparative Study of School Withdrawal and Private School Investment.

This study did not test a formal statistical hypothesis. Instead, it worked with a qualitative expectation: that families facing the same fee-free secondary education system would make different schooling decisions because they assign different meanings to the value, cost, and likely future returns of education. The data support that expectation. The study found that some families withdraw children from public secondary school because they see schooling as too theoretical, weak in practical relevance, and uncertain in its link to employment or self-reliance. Other families still value education highly, but prefer private schools because they distrust the quality, discipline, supervision, and implementation found in many public schools.

The data are qualitative interview data gathered through a comparative case study in Biharamulo District. They were collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 parents, 5 dropout students, 5 private school students, and 2 school principals, then analyzed using thematic comparative analysis to compare patterns across the two family groups. The most notable finding is that free education does not by itself guarantee participation; what matters is whether families believe schooling is meaningful and leads to a future they value. The data can therefore be interpreted as showing that school withdrawal is not only a poverty issue, but also a judgment about relevance and return, while private school choice reflects continued belief in education but declining trust in public delivery. Others can use these data to understand how family perceptions shape participation, trust, dropout, and private-school demand in Tanzania.

本研究未对正式统计假设进行检验，而是基于一项质性预期展开研究：即身处同一免费中等教育体系中的家庭，会因对教育的价值、成本及潜在未来回报赋予不同的意义，而做出迥异的教育决策。本研究的数据验证了这一预期。研究发现，部分家庭会让子女从公立中等学校退学，原因在于他们认为学校教育过于理论化，实践相关性不足，且与就业或自立的关联存在不确定性。另有部分家庭仍高度重视教育，但更倾向选择私立学校，因他们对多数公立学校的办学质量、纪律管理、监督机制及落地执行效果缺乏信任。

本研究的数据为质性访谈数据，通过在比哈拉穆洛区（Biharamulo District）开展的比较案例研究采集获得。数据通过半结构化访谈采集，访谈对象包括16名家长、5名辍学学生、5名私立学校在校生及2名学校校长，随后采用主题比较分析法，对两组家庭的教育行为模式差异进行对比分析。本研究最显著的发现为：免费教育本身并不能保障学生的教育参与；真正关键的因素在于，家庭是否认为教育具有意义，且能引领他们所珍视的未来。因此，本研究数据可被解读为：学生退学不仅是贫困问题，同时也是家庭对教育相关性与回报的价值判断；而选择私立学校，则反映出家庭仍对教育抱有坚定信念，但对公立教育的供给质量已逐渐失去信任。其他研究者可借助该数据集，深入探究坦桑尼亚家庭的认知如何影响教育参与度、信任水平、辍学率及私立学校需求。