Karume English Medium Primary School at Kyebitembe area Bukoba urban district Kagera region -Tanzania

Mission Statement

Karume English Medium Nursery School a subsidiary of Karume Education Centre is aimed to facilitate the Process of the Tanzanian's policy on education, which includes eliminating illiteracy by 2010. This will only be possible if basic education is promoted; thus karume English Medium Nursery School is the right vehicle and entry point for the policy in Bukoba.

About Karume
The head office of Karume Education Center is situated at Matopeni area, Kashai ward Bukoba Urban district. Basically, it is a community based initiative center, which is focusing to enhance promotion of under fives and primary school education to the older children being the primary stage that is fundamental of learning reading, writing and arithmetic. Also, the center considers primary education to be compulsory and universal to all school age children because builds a permanent ability in literacy.

Besides, emphasizing primary education, Karume Education Center in future wish to provide secondary education to pupils who pass standard seven examinations but due to limited chances they usually miss such opportunities and remains homes.

Additional, it aims to offer vocational training skills and knowledge to the youth who miss secondary education, so as to make them be able to become self-reliant and contribute to their families, to the district, region and national economic development.

Karume Education center was founded on 31 October 2002, since then it has made several achievements which includes:
1. Has a nursery school, which was officially opened on 1st January 2003 by recruiting 31 pupils whom later their number has increased up to 65.

2. The center staff composition is based on qualifications and experiences in handling the underfives, teaching primary school and adult education, and collectively they possess over seas field experiences in the words are specialist in early child hood care.

3. The nursery school is teaching subjects in English language that is the preference of community surrounding the school

Has completed buildings, which are currently used as nursery school, as head office, and they are equipped with basic working equipments such as computers, books, desks, tables, chairs and etc.

4. Has a land of 10 acres at Kyebitembe area in which a proposed primary school will be constructed just for older children. Also, essential services like water (tap water), electricity, land line telephone and means of transport (road) are around, Uganda Road.

5. That nursery school and head office running costs have been met through community contributions to gather with school fees collection. These sources do not guarantee sustainable operations and construction of primary school due to the fact that are not guarantee in terms of how much? For how long? And when are going to be donated. Hence it is not optimistic to meet the budget. The situation if left to persist is likely to affect the provision of the services and construction of primary school. However, the requests are made to local and international agencies wish to come into partnership with the Center and join hands financially and materially

6. Karume Education Center provides employment to five people

The purpose of Karume Education Center to build English Medium Primary School is to support Tanzanian’s Education Policy to eradicate illiteracy through increase enrollment of both under fives and school age children by the year 2010.

The uncertainities
Unlike, other regions in the country, Kagera region is badly affected by undesirable uncertainties and disasters as are mentioned here below; Firstly, in 1978 battle ground between Tanzania and Uganda troops. During the war many of the families were seriously affected economically, socially, and culturally. Secondly, Kagera region is the first region in Tanzania to be affected by HIV/AIDS pandemic that is 1983, so the region lost and is continuing loosing work force from the epidemic. Thirdly, the region hosted more than one million of refugees from the Republic of Rwanda and Burundi that was in 1993-1994.The refugees added stress to the already stressed households due to limited resources. Lastly, but not the least, in May 1996 the region again lost more than 1000 people from MV Bukoba accident. Catastrophe added more orphans to the already weakened families.

The orphans problem
There many social and economic problems that the region face and will continue to face as a result of AIDS pandemic. One of them is the Orphan problem. Some of these orphans are HIV positive and others are free from infection.

Primary school education
Bukoba urban with a population of 82555 (2002 census) has 22 registered government primary schools that serve 14136 pupils and 6 privates registered English Medium primary schools that admit not more than 215 pupils every year. (SOURCE: Bukoba town Council education office report) This indicates that a number of eligible school age children is not in schools but is at homes and one among the many reasons is due to missing of enrollments in the existing schools. The challenge is more schools are needed and Government alone cannot fulfill these tasks without getting community supports.

Pre school education
Nationally, until the year 2003 there were 744750 registered nursery schools (SOURCE: Ministry for Education and Culture) Kashai ward with 16 locations example has 11 pre school centers.

Karume Education Centre
Ever since Karume Education Center was founded and officially opened its nursery school at Matopeni area, in Kashai ward, 65 pupils are schooling in the nursery while are nearby and maintaining contact with their parents, additional, the center aims have been:

1. To solve outstanding problem of parents of Kashai ward people to enroll their kids at nearby nursery and avoid unnecessary costs to send their children for nursery education in other wards.

2. To respond to government call to individuals, religious organizations, Non Governmental Organizations to contribute to education sector

3. To respond to increase of fewer under fives due to for nursery education who increase each year.

4. The service has been gained positive response from the users and are pressing request to management to extend service to primary school level, to increase enrollment opportunities, eventually to reduce number of school age children who miss schooling opportunities every year due to limited schools. Karume English medium primary school will strongly promote enrollment of girls in formal education.

5. In the other words, Karume Education Center has decided to build English medium primary school to support the government policies that want every eligible child has to get basic primary school education also is meet community demand of English language.

6. Karume Education Center philosophy is to provide equitable services so that the whole community benefits regardless their age, gender, marital status, nationality, physical capabilities, race, and religion. Therefore, the intended primary school also will follow the same philosophy and will not only increase enrollment opportunities to the eligible children but also will consider seriously child girl education because hundreds of young girls as young as of school age are made house girls and completely denied their fundamental rights, that is a rights to education. For example the regional labor office report that there are more than 4000 house girls in Bukoba town and more than 50% of them neither is able to read nor to write (illiterates)

7. Either the Karume English Medium primary school will partially to solve problem of parents whose sometimes are forced to send their children outside the country like Uganda and Kenya just to seek for quality of education and English language and the consequences have been to take out our potential foreign currencies that are needed to support country’s economic development. The intended primary school will be additional to the already existing private schools in the district that teach subjects in English language and will have qualified and experienced teachers and will be having modern facilities according to technological advancement

Problem statement

Increase number of children missing education
Since independence the people of Tanzania have been demanded quality education. But their dream has not achieved due to many reasons including limited schools. Like other social services in the country, education sector has been obstructed by numerous setbacks and some of those problems have been shortage of classrooms compared to the demand. Due to shortage of schools, every year a big number of children is missing basic education. It is a big number because none has been done to establish the real figure of eligible children, who miss education yearly, eventually to grow without basic education, that mean they are illiterates. Example is Kashai ward that is largest ward in Bukoba Urban compared to other wards and has a population of 18436 people (2002 Census) but has three primary schools only.

Pupils over crowded in classrooms
Since the universal primary education was introduced in the year1977 and Education Sectoral Development Program in 1995 there has been a marked increase number of pupils in schools in such a way that existing classrooms are facing with problem of over congestion. However the situation has created difficulties to teachers in managing pupils in classrooms and pupils have been experiencing poor learning environment, as results, some of children complete primary education without knowledge of reading and writing therefore, to defeat government’s policies to eradicate poverty and illiteracy by the year 2010. Example of over congestion is number of children enrolled in standard one in the year 2001-2003. Normally, one stream accommodates 45 pupils and is one teacher per stream. (MMEM guideline2001)

Drop out from schools and school pregnancy
The drop out rate among the schoolgirls is high because parents take them out of schools or prefer to pay school expenses to sons against daughters or keep their daughters at home to do domestic duties; therefore, discrimination affects education development and achievements among the girl children. Example, is focus group discussion conducted to some drop outs by Karume Education Center management in Kashai ward it concluded that factors like parents negative attitude towards girl children, orphan hoods, loose interest in schooling because of overcrowding in classrooms, poor attention from teachers, poor performances, together with shortage of desks and books are causes to the problem to grow up. Nationally, drop out rate was 0.64 of all primary school pupils in the year 2002. (SOURCE: the Minister for Education and Culture 2002 report)

This problem of drop out is very serious to girl child because hundreds who drop out are still as young as 8 to 10 years old and are made to work the whole day as house girls. To express the magnitude of the problem in Bukoba district, the Regional labor office reports, for example in the year 2003 reported that there are more 4000-house girls in Bukoba town itself that are employed as house girls instead of be in schools. Besides drop out and missing enrollment, also the problem of schoolgirl pregnant is becoming rampant, for instances, by the year 2003, nationally a total of 2227 primary school girls were expelled from school due to pregnancies (SOURCE: Minister for Education and Culture, Sunday Observer 19 October2003)

Taking young children outside the country
Normally, parents or caretakers to send children out side the country to search for good education demonstrates democracy. But a need assessment carried out to some parents that sons and daughters are schooling in Uganda and Kenya. They mentioned issues like looking for English language, high charges in our English medium primary schools compared to costs charged by our neighbor’s countries primary and nursery schools, lack of qualified and experienced teachers, and shortage of basic teaching materials contribute to send their sons and daughters out side the countries. But has a negative impact to households and country’s economy because it involves of taking out the foreign currencies in a form of tuition and boarding hence to weaken their economic power. Besides ruining country’s economy, children usually suffer from loosing parent-child relationship and care. Thus, they are affected psychologically, culturally, and socially. In the other words the children become victims of poor socialization.

Rationale of the project
The rationale behind to Karume Education Center construct English medium primary school is not only to increase enrollment opportunities but also is to reduce over crowding pupils in the existing school’s classrooms and to provide relief to parents not to continue spending much resources through sending children out side the country just for looking for learning English language. Finally, is to make children schooling while are within their home environment

Overall objective
Is to have improved standard of education and schooling environment that will encourage enrollment, learning to children and teaching to teachers so that to eradicate illiteracy and poverty in the year 2010.

Specific objectives
1. To promote enrollment by 25% of eligible children to primary education in the first seven years since school is opened.

2. To solicit funds by 50% of total amount required to construct the English medium primary school at Kyebitembe and sensitize community to support the construction and make them ready to utilize the services so as to encourage sense of ownership

3. To promote and maintain networking with the existing English medium primary schools, Non Governmental Organizations, Community Based organization, Faith Based Organizations, individual showing interest, local and International organizations so as to have regularly sharing of information and exchange experiences

Strategies
1. Construct the buildings for English medium primary school

2. Recruit qualified and experienced teachers.

Beneficiaries
The primary beneficiaries of Karume English Medium Primary School are children in the age of seven up to fourteen years old.
That means in the first seven years a total of 860 children will benefit and out of those 5% will be AIDS orphaned children and children living on the streets. Unlike other children these special groups will be given priorities and free services.

Coverage area
The proposed school is built at Kyebitembe area and will border with Kashai Rwamishenye, Kagondo,and Nshambya ward. But, Kashai children will be given special consideration and priority because of its geographical difficulties and high population density. Others are children from the rest districts in the region and from over lake.

The structure
Karume Education Centre Structure is as follows:

The trustee
Four capable people with specific expertise assigned by board of Director. Their tasks will consist of monitoring the progress of the center. The trustee will hold financial and legal responsibility of Karume Education Center.

The advisory board of directors
Karume Education Center Board of Director consists of 8 elected members; selection is based upon experience and expertise. Meeting of the Board takes place every end of year. The Board advises and supervises the overall operation of Karume Education Center and approves all major policy decision. It is responsible for management assignments, ensure financial accountability and provide directions to management. The members of the Board are listed with details about their expertise and other positions the currently hold.

Executive director, Managenebt and staff
Karume Education Center management and staff consist of 6 people.

Director: Mr Seif Rukubayunga Mkude.

Address:
Karume Education Centre
P.O.BOX 1991
Mobile 0744658055.
Email: karumecenter@yahoo.co.uk
BUKOBA
Kagera region,
Tanzania.[

Request for support
Join hands now. our support is worth praise as Mother Theresa once said.

"I Know that what we are doing is just a drop in the Sea, but the Sea would be different without that drop"