Primary School Project

help2kids financially supports a local Primary School including a Nursery program.  While Primary School education is technically free in Tanzania in all of its government Primary Schools, fees for uniforms, tests, and books often prevent children from low-income families from getting an education.

At Pwani, help2kids partnered Primary School, there are almost 700 children from the ages of 4 to 16 years old. Whilst our engagement with the school has only recently started, it already covers providing volunteers, photocopying of key learning materials, setting up a Health Project and our Education Sponsorship Programme to provide the children with the opportunity to continue into and, equally importantly, complete their Secondary School education.

Tanzania has seen significant development and progress in the education sector over the last decade. There has been a rapid growth in the level of enrollment – largely fueled by Tanzania’s decision to abolish Primary School fees. However, despite rapid expansion in Primary and Secondary School enrollment, the country’s education system continues to struggle to deliver quality education and to keep its children in school.

This rapid growth has unfortunately led to extreme overcrowding within classrooms. The average government Primary School classroom holds 66 pupils, which is less than ideal, but at Pwani the average class size is significantly higher than this with the largest class having as many as 105 students.

The pupil to toilet ratio is a significant factor when it comes to factors that hinder Tanzanian children’s education. This affects not only attendance due to ill health caused by the use of such poor sanitation but also performance. At Pwani, the toilets have no water and are near to collapse. 

The shortage in classrooms is in part due to the lack of new schools and classrooms that are built, particularly in the more built up and overcrowded areas like Dar es Salaam. But the simple truth is that the problem is made much worse due to lack of investment to maintain the existing schools and classrooms.

At Pwani, nearly 50% (7 of the 16) of the classrooms are in such a bad state of repair that they are not safe to use for teaching. Cracked and crumbling walls, uneven floors and lack of desks and benches are the main reasons why so many of the classrooms remain unusable.

Your role as a Volunteer

Volunteers typically work at Pwani Primary School from 8am until noon when they return home to the Friendly Gecko for lunch.

Your primary role will be as a Teaching Assistant and Tutor. Teaching English to the students is one of the top priorities for our projects in Tanzania. As a volunteer you will assist the teachers at Pwani Primary School by providing English lessons. You will be assigned a class, usually from Standard Five up to Standard Seven. 

Additionally, you will tutor the students, helping with their assignments and helping those that fall behind in their work with one-on-one attention during the classes. Whenever you feel comfortable, you may also decide to take over the lesson under the supervision of the teacher.

You will also get involved in extra curricula activities including sport, art & crafts, songs and games. The activities represent a great opportunity for the children to spend their time in a profitable way, as well as a wonderful way for the volunteers to get to know them. You’ll find the Children truly love working with the volunteers and are also eager to learn.