Education

Rondo Junior Seminary

St Catherine’s School

St Cyprian’s

Kwitonji

Before the nationalisations in 1971, the Diocese was responsible for a number of educational organisations:

  • Primary schools at Mtandi and Mkomaindo;

  • Boys’ secondary school at Chidya (the dispensary that was developed there to serve the school remains in the hands of the Diocese and continues to serve the community);

  • Girls’ secondary school at Ndwika; and

  • Teacher’ training colleges at Ndwika, Tunduru and Nachingwea.

Since then, the Diocese has only run religious educational establishments in St Cyprian’s Theological College (fallen into disuse but now being revived) and Rondo Junior Secondary (currently being reinvigorated as a secondary school).  St Catherine’s, the new girls’ school that is being developed at Namasakata, is the Diocese first significant re-engagement into the education of community members for a long time.

St. Cyprian’s Theological College and Rondo Junior Seminary

The Anglican Church has been educating children in the diocese for more than 90 years, providing a quality, values-based education and hope for a brighter future to children regardless of income, race, ethnicity or religious beliefs.

Apart from a number of primary and secondary schools built by the diocese being nationalized by the government in 1971 through the Education Act of 1969, the diocese maintained St. Cyprian’s Theological College that Bishop Trevor Huddleston established at Rondo in 1962.

In 1998, Rondo Junior Seminary was established on the same land where St. Cyprian’s College is located. Rondo Junior Seminary is currently developing a strategy to broaden its promise of a better life through education. It follows a secondary school syllabus and offering instruction to over 150 boys in Forms I-IV. Rondo Junior Seminary believes that every child has the potential for excellence and that, through hard work and effort, they can achieve the highest honors in their chosen field and enjoy that process of attainment.

Since 2019 the diocese made more efforts in preparing the students for the service in civil professions by establishing a computer system and lessons for students, a situation, which has helped in motivating students to learn more. With IT system, provision of high-quality teaching lessons has been easy and helped to elevate the students’ education status and increased their general knowledge. A total of 750 students have studied at Rondo junior Seminary and have achieved excellent results of I to III divisions from their National Form IV Examinations.

St. Catherine’s Girls Secondary School

Receiving quality education that empowers girls, remains a challenge in the diocese especially in rural areas. Students walk for hours to attend schools, which leaves girls vulnerable to sexual and physical violence. Many rural girls want to go to schools and study as much as they could so that they could graduate, find jobs, and support themselves and their families, but they lack access.

The families that have money for schooling tend to prioritize the education of boys over girls. In recognising the equal right to quality education of everyone (boys and girls), in 2015 the diocese decided to construct a girls’ boarding secondary school to address critical issues of girls’ access to schooling and secondary education. The school is named St. Catherine’s Girls Secondary School and is located at Namasakata village about 15kms from Tunduru town - Ruvuma region.

Currently, two buildings have been built, which will accommodate six classrooms and 270 students (45 students for each classroom) . Other buildings that have been built include two dormitories 90 students, three staff houses, two staff toilets and two lavatories for students. The future plan is to complete the remaining buildings including administration block, library and a block for science subjects (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) as well as Business subjects (Commerce and Bookkeeping) as a priority for the school. The registration process for the school is still going on.

Education in Tanzania

Primary education for all has long been established as a right, enshrined in Tanzania’s constitution, with obligations on attendance.  Provision of equal educational opportunity for girls has been a national priority as clearly stipulated in the Tanzania’s Education and Training Policy 2014. This policy also directs that all children should have free access to secondary education.

This is consistent with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4: ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for al’.

While education remains a key element of national policy, there are challenges.  A significant challenge relates to female access to quality education and completing schools.  While recent reports suggest that there is increasing gender equality in school enrolment, reports show only 25% of eligible children were enrolled in secondary education in 2017 (UNESCO, 2017).

While education itself may be free, there are a number of associated costs which families often cannot afford. Many schools, especially in rural areas, are located some distance from children’s homes. This provides an extra cost of travel or accommodation close to schools.

This is a particular problem for girls.  We have seen the numbers of girls enrolled in secondary schools in Tunduru district increase from 2015 but drop-out rates are high. The Social Welfare Department issued a report in 2018 that offers an explanation of this by identifying a significant challenge that girls face is unsafe journeys to day secondary schools. Most girls must walk long distances to school and this can lead them to start intimate friendships with men, especially motorcycle riders who pretend to assist them with money to cover costs of travel, lunch or lifts to schools. Consequent early pregnancies are a significant factor leading to girls leaving secondary schools.  All pregnant schoolgirls are expelled as the pregnancy is considered to be the girl’s fault.

Social norms also work against girls’ secondary education: it is always the girls who remain at home and fetch water, collect firewood and other domestic duties. This situation reinforces gender stereotypes against girls as most parents in rural villages tend to think that lack of education for girls is not a major problem as they become caregivers work to supplement household incomes.