Dr. Janeth Kigobe is affiliated with the Faculty of Education at the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), a leading institution committed to advancing equitable, inclusive, and quality education through open and distance learning approaches. The Faculty plays a critical role in teacher education, curriculum improvements, and research on educational innovations, particularly in low-resource and diverse learning contexts.

Dr. Kigobe collaborates on international research projects focused on school attendance, mental health, and child well-being. She engages in partnership research with Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and KU Leuven, Belgium, collaborating with Prof. Dr. Martijn Van Heel (VUB) and Prof. Dr. Karla Van Leeuwen (KU Leuven). One of their significant joint research contributions includes the study titled:
“Some psychometric properties of the School Refusal Assessment Scale–Revised: Parent and Child Version in the Tanzanian Context,”
which was a pioneering effort in adapting global assessment tools to culturally relevant settings in sub-Saharan Africa.

Currently, Dr. Kigobe is leading a research project focusing on the assessment of school attendance, school violence, and children’s mental health in Tanzanian schools. This project aims to generate locally grounded evidence that informs policy and practice around school engagement and psycho-social support in education systems.

She is also actively engaged in a collaborative project with Prof. Dr. Tobias Hecker from the Institute for Interdisciplinary Conflict and Violence Research at Bielefeld University, Germany. This collaboration explores the associations between school violence—particularly teacher violence and peer victimization—and education outcomes (assessed through performance and school attendance patterns among children). The project seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of how violent school environments impact student engagement, emotional well-being, and educational outcomes.

In addition, The Open University of Tanzania through Dr. Kigobe is currently leading efforts to establish a National Network on School Attendance in Tanzania, with ten active initiators already engaged in shaping the vision, structure, and collaborative agenda of this important initiative. As part of this work, she is committed to fostering a strong collaborative bridge between the Ministry of Education, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions, with the aim of creating a coordinated national response to school attendance challenges. This multi-sectoral approach is envisioned to promote policy dialogue, evidence-based interventions, and sustainable solutions that ensure every child’s right to education and well-being is realized.