Strategies for Enhancing Service Satisfaction and Students' Retention in Private Secondary Schools: A Case Study in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania

Abstract

The study investigated the strategies for enhancing service satisfaction 
and student retention in private secondary schools in Iringa Municipality, 
Tanzania. It aimed to explore the levels of service satisfaction, identify 
the strategies for enhancement, and investigate interventions for 
retention. Using a case study design, 47 respondents participated, 
including 20 students, 8 parents, 4 school managers, and 8 head 
teachers, alongside 7 other education stakeholders. Data collection 
encompassed interviews, observation, and documentary reviews, with 
subsequent content analysis employed for data interpretation. The 
study’s findings highlight a concerning trend: low service satisfaction 
among customers within the selected schools. Despite existing 
strategies, the overall experience falls short of expectations. The study 
recommends that schools focus on designing and implementing 
internally driven strategies by considering the uniqueness of the needs 
of their students, conduct regular needs assessments to identify gaps 
and areas for improvement, implement a mechanism to track customer 
satisfaction continuously to make necessary adjustments through 
regular feedback, and schools should use customer satisfaction data to 
identify at-risk students.