Tuishime School
The school now
Tuishime Pre- and Primary School in Arusha provides high quality education in the English language for 380 children between the ages of 3 and 11. A significant number of the pupils are orphans whose parents have died from AIDS. The school has a special focus on helping these orphans and the children of very poor single parent families.
There are 4 classes in the pre-primary school with 120 children. There are 260 children in classes 1 to 7 with 7 being the highest primary level in the Tanzanian system. The curriculum follows the Tanzanian national syllabus. HIV/AIDS education is provided to all primary school children to eliminate misconceptions and eradicate discrimination.
National exams are taken by children at the age of 11 and the school results have been excellent in all years up to 2014 with the school being placed in the top 3% of Tanzanian schools. The school has a 100% success rate in the exams and all children have gone on to secondary schools. The school is inspected by the Government at frequent intervals.
School starts at 8.00am for all pupils. The pre-school finishes at noon, and the primary school finishes at 2.00pm. All students are required to wear school uniform. Children's parents or carers are expected to buy the uniforms although financial assistance is given when needed. The school employs 22 teachers who are on lower salaries than the specified Government rates. Through Hope for Tanzania, salaries are gradually being increased.
The school employs 22 teachers who are on lower salaries than the specified Government rates. Through Hope for Tanzania, salaries are gradually being increased.
The school has started teaching French and is using science equipment and videos to improve the quality of science lessons. In 2012 an IT centre with 30 reconditioned desktop computers and a projector, all donated by Hope for Tanzania, was set up. It is proving very valuable to the children as they learn and develop computer skills. The high quality resources at the school is making it very attractive to parents looking for a school and is one of the reasons why the number of pupils has increased so significantly. Drama performances are produced and choreographed by John Bosco and capture the vibrancy and energy of Tanzanian rural life.
The school has two minibuses to collect children from their homes. A small fee is charged to cover fuel costs. Without this transport many of the children would not go to school.
Many parents are unable to afford the modest school fees. We are always looking for sponsors to cover fees, uniform and meals. You can do this through the Sponsor a Child scheme.
The future of the school
Demand for places at the school is still growing and additional classrooms will be built. The target number of pupils is 440 with two streams in classes 5-7.
To improve and expand Tuishime School we are looking for funds to:
- Invest in teacher training to further improve teaching standards
- Provide a well-stocked library
- Build 4 additional classrooms, a teacher resource centre and a play room for young children
- Complete the construction of a staff room and offices for the head teacher, deputy director and administrator
- Network and connect all computers to the internet via fibre optic
- Install a computer and projector in classrooms for years 4-7
If you would like to make a donation towards our work, go the Donations page.