Establishing Mentoring Services In Secondary Schools In Arusha District, Tanzania: Swoc Analysis

ABSTRACT

This study explored a possibility of establishing mentoring services (MS) in secondary schools in Arusha District, Tanzania; SWOC analysis. It employed crosssectional survey design with mixed approach. A total of 81 respondents from five public secondary schools and one missionary school were selected as a sample. Fifty respondents were students, 25 teachers and six heads of schools (HoSs), including a head of missionary school. The sample of students and teachers were obtained through stratified random sampling while HoSs were obtained through purposive sampling. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews and Focus Group Discussions. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 and thematic procedures whereby descriptive statistics and multiple responses were used to find frequencies and percentages of responses. The findings have revealed that, MS have more strengths and better opportunities than limitations and challenges. The strengths discovered were; the proper choice of subject combinations, an improvement of performance, psychosocial support and general welfare of students, to mention only a few. Opportunities were; the availability of teachers, the presence of other institutions with established MS, the presence of project work and the availability of informal mentoring/apprenticeships as well as the availability of school premises. The limitations were; the lack of government support, the curriculum not supporting MS, lack of trained mentors and funds to run the programs. The challenges were; risk of overdependence of the mentee on the mentor, lack of sound theoretical base of the program and the risk of romantic relationship. The study recommends that mentoring services should be formalized in secondary school education settings by preparing guidelines through a circular.