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Effectiveness of the Strategies used by School Administration in Protecting Children From Physical Abuse in Public Secondary Schools in the Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania

This study examined the effectiveness of strategies used by school administration in protecting children from physical abuse in public secondary schools in the Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania. This was a study guided by the systems theory and approach by Bertalanffy, (1968). The theory articulates a set of specific structures, functions, capacities, and other related system components including input, process, and output. This study employed convergent mixed methods design which intended to collect both quantitative and qualitative data in one phase. Stratified, convenient, and purposeful sampling techniques were used to determine the study sample which consisted of 427 respondents. Questionnaires and an interview guide were used to collect the required information. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and inferentially using ANOVA. Tables, charts, narrations, and schemes of code were used to present the study findings. The study findings show that the strategies can be effective if they are used well, the most effective strategies were; Guidance and Counseling, Involvement of Stakeholders, Well informed Administration, and the Use of Child Policy, Law, rule, and reregulation. Other strategies suggested were the introduction of Life skill education, home visitation, and the use of student council. The study concluded that the strategies used by school administration in protecting children from sexual abuse are effective, however with some challenges that can be solved. The ANOVA findings conclude there are no significant differences between teachers' mean scores on rating the effective strategies used in protecting children from physical abuse based on years of experience. The study recommends Ministry of Education, Science and Technology should ensure effective and efficient use of existing strategies while ensuring close supervision and monitoring to reduce sexual abuse. But also in-service training should be done for all District Education officers, Heads masters/mistresses, and Discipline masters/mistresses, and lastly, teacher education programs in colleges and universities should be designed to ensure child protection is given priority.