Gendered Influence of Artisanal and Small Scale Mining on Primary School Pupils’ Learning Achievements in Western Tanzania

This study explored a critical step towards improving quality of education in ASM area by addressing the problems concerning children’s rights and gendered child rearing. It was guided by the social cognitive theory in explaining the role of environment in moulding children’s behaviour. It measured three objectives: examining the kinds of artisanal and small scale mining activities contribution to development of adjacent primary schools; assessing the influence of artisanal and small scale mining activities on primary school pupils’ learning achievements; and exploring the influence of ASM activities on pupils’ learning achievements by gender. It employed a cross sectional survey design and was conducted in Biharamulo District located Western Tanzania. The respondents were head teachers, primary school teachers, primary school pupils, and ASM leaders, obtained through purposive sampling techniques. Data were collected through observation, interviews, questionnaire, documentary review, and focus group discussion. Data were analysed and presented through tables, figures and thematic analysis. Chisquare test was performed to assess the influence of ASM on pupils’ learning achievement. It was found that the influence of ASM activities on primary school pupils’ learning achievements was significant - X² = 7.133 (1), α = 0.008, with a symmetric measure coefficient (Phi = -.501, α = .003). The negative coefficient value of .50 indicates that ASM activities have large negative effect on pupils learning.Gender-wise, ASM activities affected boys more compared to girls - X² = 5.819 (1), α= 0.016, with a symmetric measure coefficient (Phi = -0.69, α = 0.003).