Abstract

The study explored the expectations of the students and parents during the school transitions from primary to secondary schools in Tanzania public schools. The study was guided by three specific objectives namely to investigate the concerns of students during the transition from primary to secondary school; to examine the expectations of parents during the transitions of their children from primary to secondary; and to investigate the role of primary school teachers in preparing students for transition to secondary school from the perspective of students and parents. Exploratory design was used in facilitating knowledge generation process because the study was conducted in line with the testing of the subjective reality under study. Primary data were used in facilitating information gathering process that facts were generated from three sample sizes namely the students, teachers and parents from the total sample of 93 participants using questionnaires and interviews. The collected results using questionnaires were computed in SPSS software version 23 to generate statistical tests to present the results. Descriptive statistics were generated to present the results. Information collected using interviews were analyzed by means of content analysis technique which were narratively presented with themes to support the results as quotations. Findings indicated that with students concerns several issues have been worrying students like the environment, language, and other expectations with most being personal desires. Apart from that, parents on the other hand constitute positive expectations on their children with good faith and trust on their teachers. Moreover, parents and students positively acknowledge the role of primary school teachers in facilitating the transition of students from primary school to secondary school. The implication of the results is that the transition of students to secondary school is certain and in fact positive since it constitutes good outcomes in most account in Tanzania.