Determinants of the fee-based education structure in public English medium primary schools in Tanzania

Tanzania’s primary schools have both public and private systems. Private primary schools use English as the medium of instruction, while public primary schools, which are officially fee-free, use Swahili. Recently, the government has introduced a fee-based model for public English-medium schools. The present study explores factors influencing the increase of fee-based model in public English-medium schools. This study, grounded in Linguistic Capital and Human Capital theory, employed a qualitative case study design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with purposively selected educational officers, head teachers, and parents, and were analysed thematically. The results point to four primary determinants of the fee-based system in public primary English-medium schools:high operational costs, the growing demand from parents, the shift in policy towards cost-sharing between the state and households, and attempts to control enrollment demand and sustain the quality of education. The study concludes cost-sharing arrangements in public primary schools create disparities between fee-based and fee-free schools, as well as between households that can afford the fee and those that cannot. The study suggests that the government should formulate a standalone policy that regulates school expenses and parental contributions, thereby expanding access for many.