Primary School
Kigurunyembe Tanzania
The project site is at Kigurunyembe which is located three km from the Morogoro city center in the foot‑hills of the Uluguru Mountains and one kilometer off the Morogoro‑Dar es Salaam highway.
Morogoro is a rapidly growing municipality in the center of a vast agricultural region in eastern Tanzania 195 kilometers west of Dar es Salaam , the country’s largest Indian Ocean port. It takes three hours by car or bus.
Morogoro municipality is divided into nineteen wards, covering a total area of 200 square kilometers. Many smaller villages are also located within the sprawling jurisdiction of the municipality. The population of the municipality is 228,863 (Morogoro Municipal Council, 2002 Census).
Government programmes for Education
One goal of the Tanzanian Primary Education Development Program (PEDP) is to provide primary school education to all children by increasing infrastructure of existing schools. While the PEDP strives to increase enrollment and infrastructure, they have also set establishing schools with quality educational standards as a goal. While financially supporting only government schools in Tanzania , the PEDP has encouraged non-governmental organizations to establish and administer high quality private institutions.
However, with all the above vision by the government and PEDP, has emerged the issue of working for quality with costs at the expense of the poor. Many Tanzanian families are left with no alternative other than taking their children to the poorly equipped and understaffed public schools.
This proposal is an initiative of appealing for moral and material support towards the realization of the project.
Preliminary study of the project
Recent industrial development and population growth have strained the municipality’s capacity to provide many social services; the most notable among these shortcomings is the struggling educational system. Although there are fifty-six primary schools in the Morogoro municipal area (51 government schools and 5 private) , this number is insufficient to meet the growing needs of the school-age population. The number of primary school-age children, age 5-14, recorded in the 2002 census is 52,684 (Department of Health - Morogoro Municipal Council, Annual Report, 2002). Only 36,686 of these children attend school (Tanzanian Primary Education Development Program Report, June 2003). The number of children reported to not be attending school due to poverty within their families is 15,998. This same report cites a teacher to pupil ratio of
Social Conditions
The predominant tribe in Morogoro Region is Waluguru. There are also people belonging to different tribes from all over the country employed in different factories and engaged in different types of works. Christianity and Islam are the major religions in this region. Although people are of different tribes and religions, all live in peace and harmony.
Morogoro Municipality has a current population of 228,863; men 113,639 (49.77%) and women 115,224 (50.3%), according to the census conducted in August 2002.
Economic Condition
The unfortunate reality of life in Morogoro is that in the midst of growth, much poverty persists. While some in the municipality have found well-paying jobs with subsequent improvement to their standard of living, many still struggle to feed their families and send their children to school. The low average annual per capita income of US$ 110 reflects this disparity in earnings. It is most often the children of the families at the lower ranks of the Tanzanian society that cannot access basic education.
Problem Statement
The public education system in Tanzania is performing poorly, even by African standards. In the municipality of Morogoro , fewer than seventy percent of primary school age children currently attend school (Tanzanian Primary Education Development Program Report, June 2003). This is a decline from an enrollment of 95% in 1982 (United Nations Human Development Report, 1999).
The need for quality primary school education in the Region an urgent one. The need for accessibility of quality of education for a right for all children is real throughout the country, but is especially acute in the municipality of Morogoro .
Detailed Description of the Project
Project’s Goals
- To provide education that meets the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of underprivileged children and adolescents,
- To initiate a community supported institute for basic education with a reach out to the needy bright children in Morogoro Region.
This project proposed is the construction of a primary school. The municipality has allocated MSFS an 8-acre land parcel Kigurunyembe village for the school. The school will provide classroom instruction for children from kindergarten to grade seven. The curriculum will follow the syllabus of the Tanzanian Ministry of Education. Classes taught will include English, Kiswahili, mathematics, geography, biology and physical sciences, history, and religious education. Each grade will accommodate up to ninety students, consisting of two sections each.
Material and Human Resources
The school will employ eighteen full-time teachers. Sisters belonging to the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales will constitute a large component of the school’s faculty. Additional faculty will be recruited from the pool of qualified teachers in the district. Teachers’ salaries will be paid from school tuition fees. Non-teaching support staff will include one office secretary and a trained librarian. Other staff will include a cook, custodian, nurse, and security guard. Parental involvement in the school will be encouraged by the creation of a parent/teacher organization. Active parent/teacher alliances will strengthen the school’s ties to the community and promote the intermingling of different faiths and cultures in an ecumenical environment.
Proposed Infrastructure
The pre-school block of the complex has already been completed and classes have begun. It consists of four classrooms, a recreation room, kitchen, cafeteria, and storeroom. There are two levels of kindergarten, a lower and an upper level. 150 children are attending the pre- school this year.
In addition, the school complex will consist of primary school. It is a two-story structure. The ground floor will consist of 5 classrooms, office room, staff room, and storeroom and staff toilets. The first floor will consist of 8 classrooms. The second floor will consist of 1 classroom, staff work room, science lab, library, reading room, computer lab. A separate structure containing 12 student toilets will also be constructed.
Each floor will consist of 680 square meters. Construction will be of concrete columns, cement block walls, wooden trusses, and corrugated iron sheet roofing. Electricity will be provided to the school from a nearby electrical connection. Water will be provided from the municipal water supply.