Teacher Support and Parental Satisfaction with Inclusive Pre-Primary Education in Private Schools in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania

Inclusive pre-primary education requires more than placing children with special educational needs in regular classrooms. Its quality depends on appropriate teacher support, accessible learning environments, adequate resources, meaningful family involvement, and communication between schools and parents. This study examined teacher support and parental satisfaction with inclusive education in private pre-primary schools in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania. The study employed a cross-sectional quantitative design involving 100 participants, comprising 50 teachers and 50 parents of children with special educational needs. Participants were purposively selected because of their direct experience with inclusive pre-primary education. Data were collected through structured Likert-type questionnaires. Content validity was examined through expert review and piloting. Internal consistency coefficients were α = .84 for the parent questionnaire and α = .88 for the teacher questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, the Mann–Whitney U test, and Spearman rank-order correlation were used for analysis. Teachers and parents reported that children with special educational needs received various forms of educational support, while parents were moderately involved in school activities. Parental satisfaction did not differ significantly between groups defined by perceived teacher preparedness (U = 248.5, p = .761). School environment (ρ = .406, p = .003), teacher preparedness (ρ = .326, p = .021), resource availability (ρ = .320, p = .023), and school–parent communication (ρ = .619, p < .001) were positively associated with parental expectations. School–parent communication showed the strongest association. Parental expectations were also positively associated with parental satisfaction (ρ = .430, p = .002). Parental satisfaction with inclusive pre-primary education cannot be explained by teacher preparedness alone. Parents' expectations were associated with several school conditions, particularly school–parent communication, while expectations were themselves associated with satisfaction. The findings position parental satisfaction within interconnected school and family experiences rather than a single dimension of educational provision.