Workplace absenteeism has widely been reported to be a serious problem which undermines smooth service delivery both in developed and developing nations. The problem is reported to be more serious in developing nations. This paper is therefore studying the mechanisms used to mitigate workplace absenteeism, their adequacy and the effective utilization of those mechanisms in public and private schools in Ilala Municipality and Mkuranga District in Tanzania. The study relied on in-depth interviews and documentary review to collect data which was analyzed using excel, content and thematic analysis. This study found numerous measures which have been put in place to deal with teachers' workplace absenteeism both in private and public schools. However, the study found that unlike in private schools, the measures are not seriously executed in public schools. The study recommends that the management of private schools should retain their strictness in dealing with teacher absenteeism. Also, the government should learn the private schools model of dealing with teachers' absenteeism. Hence it should ensure effective utilization of available measures, improve teacher working environment, promotion and paying salary arrears on time. Again heads of schools should stop covering absenteeism behavior of their subordinates. Furthermore public secondary school management structure should be re-organized to introduce field of supervision at a division level. Leadership and Management Vol. 5 Keywords: absenteeism; availability and utilization of measures IJELM -International Journal of Educational AbstractEl absentismo en el lugar de trabajo ha sido ampliamente reportado como un serio problema que socava la prestación de servicios tanto en países desarrollados como en desarrollo. Se reporta que el problema es más grave en los países en desarrollo. En este artículo se estudian los mecanismos utilizados para mitigar el absentismo en el lugar de trabajo, su adecuación y la utilización efectiva de esos mecanismos en las escuelas públicas y privadas del municipio de Ilala y del distrito de Mkuranga en Tanzania. El estudio se basa en entrevistas en profundidad y revisión documental para recoger datos que se analizaron utilizando excel, y análisis de contenido y temático. Este estudio encontró numerosas medidas puestas en marcha para hacer frente al absentismo del profesorado en el lugar de trabajo tanto en escuelas privadas y públicas. Sin embargo, el estudio encontró que a diferencia de las escuelas privadas, las medidas no se ejecutan seriamente en las escuelas públicas. El estudio recomienda que la gestión de las escuelas privadas mantenga su rigor en tratar el absentismo del profesorado. Además, el gobierno debe aprender del modelo de las escuelas privadas para tratar el absentismo del profesorado. Por tanto, debe garantizar la utilización eficaz de las medidas disponibles, mejorar el entorno de trabajo del profesorado, la promoción y el pago de los atrasos salariales a tiempo. De nuevo, los directores deben dejar de cubri...

Teachers’ workplace absenteeism is widely reported in countries like Tanzania. Left unaddressed, the problem negatively affects institutions and students’ academic excellence. In response, use of digital technology, including deployment of biometric fingerprint attendance registers is thought to bring a novel opportunity for mitigating the problem. However, the extent to which biometrics is effective in managing employees’ attendance in countries like Tanzania is yet to be known. This study draws experience from Nyamagana Municipality to ascertain the effectiveness of biometric fingerprint attendance registers in addressing teachers’ workplace absenteeism. The findings unveil challenges that blur the effectiveness of biometric fingerprint attendance registers in the studied district. With ICT, teachers can still falsify their workplace attendance. More so, unreliable power supply and COVID-19 pandemic have heightened the challenges related to effective utilisation of the fingerprint machines in managing teacher absenteeism. The study recommends that an effective design and use of digital technology in managing teachers absenteeism should take into account the sociological aspects in educational industry.