The study's main objective was to assess the perception of secondary school students towards vocational education and training in Arumeru District in Tanzania. In addition, the study was guided by the following specific objectives; to determine the perception of secondary school students towards vocational education and training in Arumeru district, to identify the channels through which secondary school students access information about vocational education and training in Arumeru district and to determine the challenges facing students to join VET after secondary school education in the Arumeru district. A descriptive research design was adopted. The researcher adopted simple random sampling techniques. The sample size was 120 respondents, which included; 21 respondents from Bishop Danning Secondary, 2 from Ilboru PC Centre, 25 from Mshikamano PC centre, 23 from Sinoni PC Centre, 21 respondents from Enaboishu secondary school, 5 Secondary Schools Heads and 4 VET Colleges Principals. Research questionnaires were used as the primary data collection instruments. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The findings indicate that most of the respondents strongly agreed that they received information about vocational education from; their churches, newspapers, friends, and social media. The study concluded that there is a need for more career information to be provided to the VET learners as attitude change takes quite some time. The study recommended that there is a need for the government and the relevant stakeholders to come up with a policy framework that clearly shows how a student can transition from the path of VET to further education.
Keywords: Secondary School Students, Education, Perception, Vocational Education and Training
