Your sponsorship of a student is the most direct, the most-needed, and the most life-changing assistance you can provide. While primary schools in Tanzania don’t charge tuition, the families must still provide uniforms, supplies, and cover lunch costs.
Students do have to pay tuition to attend a secondary school. There are several secondary school options – STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), boarding, trade, or day school – but they are out of financial reach for the majority of Tloma families. Even though a student passes the national exams, in most cases, they won’t be able to continue their education without our help.
Students in Form 7 (Grade 7) take their exams in September to determine which secondary schools they are eligible to attend. The highest performers have the option to attend a boarding school focused on a STEM curriculum. These schools offer the best education for students and are correspondingly more expensive.
The next option for secondary school is a non-STEM boarding or trade school. These schools offer the advantage that students can focus on their studies without having to spend multiple hours walking back and forth home each day. This also means that they are less likely to miss classes due to the need to help out at home.
The final option is for students to attend a secondary day school. These are often located several miles away and require the students to spend many hours each week walking from home to school and back each day. This is time that could otherwise be used to study.
Your support in providing tuition via sponsorship of a student, school supplies, uniforms, or even school lunch goes far to help a child succeed in school. Our Sponsorship Options page has more details. Help us continue providing bright futures for deserving these students.