By Sylivester Ernest, The Citizen Reporter
Dar es Salaam. A poor child in a remote village could struggle to better his/her life due to the presence of a harsh environment, but with education, there could be a light on one’s face.

Of late, efforts have been made by diverse stakeholders to up the level of education in Tanzania, but more importantly, to increase access to educational facilities especially in rural areas.

Orphans and most vulnerable children in both rural and urban areas need a special focus and it could only by encouraging well-wishers who are now coming in.

Less privileged children who are in primary and secondary schools in Singida and Coast regions could be the latest to benefit from the  Star of Hope Family Organisation, a new organisation initiated by committed people with a view to help the needy students.

According to the organisation’s director, Mr Athanas Mogella, there was no way stakeholders could help the government attain the 2025 Vision if they didn’t join hands to help communities to attain education goals.

“We are part of different arrangements in the country and we feel it is our obligation to ensure orphans and most vulnerable children also get education like others,” said the director.

With almost all of the regions in Tanzania facing similar situations, Mr Mogella   told The Citizen that the two regions were selected due to the existence of  the  targeted population  and  having a few organisations or projects supporting orphans and most vulnerable children.

Statistics show that some pupils and students from these regions have dropped out of school due to lack of school supplies and lack of school fees to foot their secondary school education.

The ministry of Education and Vocational Training in their report ‘The Basic Education Statistics in Tanzania (BEST), Regional Data of October 2010’ has it that, for 2010 only, 3 per cent of all primary school dropouts in the country was  due to lack of school supplies, while 5 per cent of secondary school dropouts was  due to the same cause.
This indicates that these pupils and students have been denied their right to education which eventually leads to poverty besides fostering illiteracy.

 “Sometimes parents discourage their children not to perform well in their studies since they cannot afford paying for secondary education,” said Mr Mogella.

Quoting from the BEST National Data, Mr Mogella says that Tanzania has an increasing number of school dropouts, with Singida and Coast regions rated the highest

In June 2010, the ministry of Education and Vocational Training mentioned  that causes for school dropouts were truancy, teen pregnancies, deaths, inability to meet basic needs, illness as well as taking care of ill people.

“This indicates that there are many reasons leading  to school dropouts that need to be taken into consideration so as to help the children continue with education,” he said.

According to Mr Mogella, apart from ensuring that orphans and vulnerable children have an access to education; his organisation will also senstize parents and guardians of schoolchildren in both primary and secondary schools so as to make it a vital need for them and their children’s development as well.

“There will also be a special campaign to sensitise on  the prevention of HIV/Aids and teen pregnancies  to both pupils and students, a campaign that will help to reduce a    number of dropouts due to pregnancies,” he said.

In the first twelve months of the project, Mr Mogella revealed that  the programme would directly benefit over 100 orphans from primary schools in Singida and Coast regions by supporting them with school gear.

With the focus being to empower the communities, the project would also involve local leaders in executing the plan.
“We will involve local leaders such as village and ward executive officers together with other partners in the two regions...on the other hand, orphans and most vulnerable children will be approved by official village/street meetings to ensure the exercise effectively meets the targeted groups to ease  allocation of resources,” he explained.

While Singida and Coast regions might just represent many regions that face similar problems, the coming in of Star of  Hope Family Organisation’ could work as a wake up call for other non-government organisations to come forward and  help the most vulnerable groups.

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