We have another good breakfast at the hotel, then check out and Robert and Shabani pick us up at about 9ish. We then pick up Hamisi and do a bit of shopping to buy a couple of extra surge protection leads. Robert visits several shops before he is happy with the quality of the leads. While we are waiting we notice the large number of hardware shops around, all looking very well organised.
Today we are visiting Mbugani Primary School which is right in the centre of town. It is a very large school, with over 3200 pupils and 57 teachers. We have supported them since 2019 and at present they have received 9 computers, 1 printer and 1 projector. However about 18 months ago there were some issues at the school when the ICT teacher was away and some computers got used without using the surge protection leads and unfortunately were damaged. This is the first time this had happened at any school but shows how important it is to have surge protection.
Our contract with the schools states that if the school damage the computers then they must pay to repair them. So over the last year we have worked with the Ward Education Officer, the Head Teacher and Hamisi to ensure this happens. So at present all the computers bar one are now working. The problem with the outstanding one is that Hamisi cannot get the part.
On the positive side the school have always made very good use of the computers with the computer room being almost constantly is use. Every afternoon the children have ICT lessons from 2 -5pm whilst in the morning they are used by other classes, teachers, community members etc. Elkana the ICT teacher is also excellent and keeps very good contact with me. It was only when he was away at college for a few months that the problems occurred.
Over the last year we also challenged the school to make improvements to the computer room so that it was a better environment for the computers. I have been told that this has also been done. So I am interested to see how things are today when we visit.
When we arrive we are greeted by the Head Teacher, the Chair and Vice Chair of the School Committee and by Elkana. We are taken to the Head Teacher’s office where we have a discussion about how things are going. It is good to see that all the notices are printed not handwritten.
The Head Teacher told us that she had tried to get some funding from the local council to pay for the computer room improvements but nothing came of it. So in the end they organised a fund raising event at the Standard 7 graduation ceremony last year, where they had invited a variety of different guests. At the time 1.5 million Tanzanian Shillings was pledged towards the project. Of course it then took a while to collect the money and at present they have raised TSh 1 million (around £300). This has been enough to tile the floor, paint the walls and install some extra plug points. The windows also now have glass in, instead of just bars.
The teachers then take us to visit the computer room which I have to say now looks a lot better. The walls are decorated with pictures and posters. We decide that because they have made a real effort to improve things and have got all the other computers repaired we will replace the faulty CPU so that all the computers are now working. If things all go well for the next year we will look at actually adding some more computers on our next visit.
Everyone seems very happy with this and understands the situation.
This school also has a Special Needs Unit that the Head Teacher wants to take us to visit. It rained quite hard last night so we are glad we have worn walking boots today as the Unit is separate from the main school and we need to walk along some very muddy paths.
The Unit has 152 children and 12 teachers. Most of the children board here. The Unit has its own Head Teacher who is still under the Head Teacher of the main school. The children are mainly albino, deaf, blind or have some physical or mental disabilities. This type of unit is still fairly unusual in Tanzania. They do aim to get most of the children educated in the main school eventually alongside the other children, but of course some need extra support. The children all benefit from the computers either in the main lessons or in special lessons just for them.
We say goodbye to the children and walk back to the main school along the same muddy paths. We pass their hand pump for water on the way. As we are walking we are passed by some of the children from the unit off to join their classes in the main school.
The Head Teacher then invites us to take some refreshments in the Staff Room with the teachers. We are offered sodas and a large bowl of nuts and there are the usual speeches. All in all it’s been a good visit and I am happy that we are back on track with this school. However it does show that you do need to constantly monitor these projects to make sure everything is going as you expect.
It’s about midday by the time we leave the school. We drop Hamisi in town and say goodbye to him as we are now driving to Mwanza.
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