Understanding the extent of community involvement in educational projects in Zanzibar, Tanzania

Most of the projects initiated to solve community problems are reported to have been less sustainable and therefore fail to achieve community goals. Community involvement in project activities is seen to be one of the factors for project sustainability but it has not been considered in various project management phases. This study aimed at assessing the extent of community participation in educational projects in Zanzibar. Partnership model by Narayana (2002) was used in guiding this study. Cross-sectional design and mixed approach were employed. Purposeful, snowballing as well as simple random sampling techniques were employed to sample 123 respondents. Structured questionnaire, observation schedule and Focus Group Discussion was applied for data collection. Multiple linear regression and content analysis were used in data analysis. Findings show that, there is variation on the extent the community participates in various stages of the project phases. Demographic factors such as employment status, sex, and group were found to have different intensity of influence in different phases of project life cycle in relationship to community involvement in educational projects. It was therefore recommended that, strategies to be put in place for the community to be mobilized to participate fully in different stages of the project life cycle for better achievement of the project goals.