Factors Influencing Youth Participation in Leadership in Secondary Schools in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania

Abstract

Youth participation in leadership activities is a continuous discussion to emphasize in our Tanzanian community. There are limited research findings on factors contributing to youth participation in leadership in secondary schools. This results in a lack of confidence, communication skills, leadership skills, team working, and social participation among the students. Therefore, the study examined the factors influencing youth participation in leadership in secondary schools in Iringa Municipality. The study researcher adopted an explanatory research design to conduct the study. The covered a sample of 300 respondents drawn from a target population of 1400 students of secondary schools in Iringa Municipality. Data analysis was done by use of descriptive and inferential statistics; frequencies, percentages, correlation, and multiple regression. The study revealed that; social influence, social media, and civic education have a positive but weak relationship with youth participation in leadership in secondary schools in Iringa Municipality. This is because the correlation coefficients (r) on the relationship between social influence, social media and civic education with youth leadership participation were 0.159, 0.139, and 0.099 respectively which shows positive significance but weak. This is because in estimating the required relationship the results yielded p values greater than 0.05 which justify insignificant contributions. The practical implication is that these constructs should be improved in their application in order to provide a significant contribution to youth leadership in Iringa Municipality. Based on these results, the researcher recommends advanced policies and division of resources to address youth marginalization in the distribution of opportunities for leadership participation. The resources to be addressed should cover both financial and non-financial resources. The study also recommends that schools should encourage leadership skills, mentoring, and trainings across all activities and programming to advance youth’s self-confidence, agency, and voice to advocate for their issues and engage in civic discussions.