Chimala Primary School, part I

The Chimala Primary School began with one grade in 1999. Now it goes through (I believe) seventh grade and has several hundred students. Students must pay tuition to attend the school, so the school is self-supporting. Children from the village of Chimala may attend it they can afford to pay. Most of the students are from other places in Tanzania, and most stay in the dorms located on the property. Even very young students, ages 6 or 7, sometimes do not go home for the entire school year! Ages in the various grades vary widely. Sometimes students must stay out of school for a year or more if they have to work or if they cannot pay the tuition. Some of the students that we read with are in 7th grade and are anywhere from 13 to 17.

The Chimala Primary School has an excellent reputation in Tanzania. It is ranked as one of the top schools in Tanzania in test scores. In fact, this year the woman from Dar es Salaam who is in charge of publicizing all of Tanzania's score, sent her own children to the Chimala school! That means that she sent them to school 11 hours away from home!

While we were in Chimala, school was on break, so many students had gone home. There were still some who were local who were attending summer classes, some who were still staying in the dorms, and some older ones who were preparing for their big exams in September.




The following photo shows the outside of the primary school.

Next are photos taken inside one of the older classes. Notice how many are in a classroom!

Also notice the bare walls.

The following sign reminds the students to speak English. They have one hour per day of English instruction in Primary School. (Secondary school is taught in English.)

Much of the work is done on chalkboards.
No, Jan is not teaching!

Next is inside a 1st grade classroom. There were actually two classrooms of 1st graders in one room at the time we took this picture.
I think that there are around 35 students per classroom in the early grades. In the public schools the student/teacher ratio is more than double that number. That is one of the reasons that parents really want their children to go to school at the Mission.

In January, 2010, a secondary school on the Mission will open for the first time. It will specialize in science and math. The students will have to pass tests in order to enroll. Teachers are being hired for this school. They need to be able to speak English, and they should be Christians.

There is a real need for teachers and for a school administrator----and they could come from the U.S., if you know of anyone who would like to do a good work in Tanzania!

This next photo is inside one of the new classrooms in the new school.

The next photo shows one of the primary teachers, Atupele. He is very friendly and is excellent in speaking English. He helped us a lot while we were there.

The next two photos show one of the teacher's houses on the mission property.

Cooking and washing are both done outside.

The following is a video made inside one of the 2nd grade classroom. The children love to have visitors! They sang this "welcome song" just for us. Even the older students stood up to welcome us to their classrooms and to sing a song.