Secondary School Library Resource Centres in Tanzania: their status in Resource-Based Learning

Abstract

The article examines the status of secondary school library resource centres in resource-based learning in eight districts of Njombe and Iringa regions of Tanzania. The study is grounded in the vital role of secondary school resource centres in providing infrastructure, information resources, technology and professional expertise to enable teachers and learners to effectively use the resources and services to foster resource-based learning and consequently improve the quality of education secondary school learners receive. The study used a pragmatic paradigm with a survey design. The results of the study reveal that the status of most secondary school resource centres is on the whole dismal. Very few secondary schools have functional resource centres. In order for School Library Resource Centres to contribute to resource-based learning and quality education, the study recommends that the government must make School Library Resource Centres a priority and provide them with the necessary human, infrastructural and financial support. A mechanism should be in place to reinforce the implementation of the Education and Training Policy of 2014 and the Education (School Library Resource Centres) Regulations of 2002.