SOS Schools in Tanzania

In Tanzania, around a third of the population (aged 15 & over) are unable to read or write.

In Tanzania, there are currently three SOS Nurseries and two SOS Primary & Secondary Schools. These facilities provide education to children from SOS Villages and from the wider community. Staff members are well trained and the resources available to students are of a high standard.  Below you can find an overview on the SOS Children education projects.

Arusha : SOS Schools

The SOS Nursery at Arusha has around 90 children, looked after by 8 staff. Most of the children are from the local community and a handful come from the SOS Village.

• The scholarship programme assists poor families to send their children to school by paying for uniform, books and equipment. The nursery aims to have 30 per cent of its children attending under the scholarship scheme.
• As well as conducting a wide range of activities inside the school, staff take the nursery children on outings. Recently pupils visited the national parks of Tarangire and Manyara as part of their learning and the children were happy to see all the different kinds of wild animals.

The SOS Primary & Secondary School at Arusha has nearly 400 students, with around 250 at primary level and 150 in secondary. Around a quarter of pupils at the school come from the SOS Village and the rest from the local community.

• The school follows the curriculum of the Tanzanian education system and has a target that each child should obtain an internal exam pass rate averaging at least 60 per cent across all subjects. With regards to the national assessments, at primary level almost all pupils pass to the next grade. More than half of the children join state secondary schools.
• Because the school operates in an area where families face economic hardship, full scholarships are offered to around 100 children from the local community.

Dar es Salaam : SOS Schools

The SOS Nursery at Dar es Salaam has over 80 children, with around 30 from the SOS Village and 50 from the local community

• Scholarships are offered to more than 20 local children from poor families so that their children can attend the nursery.
• Recently the nursery appointed two new teachers and visits were also received from SOS staff of nurseries in Kakiri and Entebbe in Uganda as part of an experience sharing programme.

Zanzibar : SOS Schools

The SOS Nursery in Zanzibar has around 180 children, with approximately 25 supported by the scholarship programme.

• Meetings for the parents and carers of children are held every term at the nursery so that each child’s development can be discussed.
• Each year the nursery runs various excursions and trips. And a colourful graduation celebration is held for the oldest children who are moving on to primary school.

The SOS Primary & Secondary School in Zanzibar has around 200 pupils coming from the local community and SOS village.

• The school aims to improve overall academic performance so that more pupils achieve above-average pass rates and pass the CSEE National Exams.
• The school operates a scholarship programme to help the children of poor families gain access to education.