Dissertation (MA Public Administration)The purpose of the study was to investigate the importance of community participation in development of primary schools in Mlele district. The two schoolsfrom Mlele district (Inyonga and Ilela primary schools) were taken as the case study. The study was guided by four objectives which are; to assess the local people understanding on community participation, to evaluate the extent/level of community participation, importance of their participation and the challenges/limitations for effective local people participation in primary school development. Four data collection methods were employed which were observation, interview, questionnaire and documentary review. The findings reveal that community participates in development of their school features in activities such as building classrooms, teacher’s houses, toilets, furniture and in school administration. The study showed the importance of community participation including a reduced dependency on government, a sense of ownership; it ensures democratic practices and transparency, and sustainable development. Despite the community participation in school development, the research discovered that the participation of local people is very low as the number of people who participate in development is limited. The research finds out that there are a number of factors that limit effective community participation which include poverty, illiteracy and ignorance, political interferences, mistrust and misuse of money and lack of transparency. The researcher recommended improving the number of local people who participate in development and insist on the importance of education and awareness of the community on their importance to participate in development of their schools