‘The Citizen’ initiative to benefit pupils, teachers

Dar es Salaam. Newspapers in Education (NIE) is a collaboration between corporate and community sponsors, The Citizen newspaper and schools set to begin in 2023.

Together, we provide students with the opportunity to become more literate and knowledgeable citizens through imparting academic content in the newspaper.

The Newspaper in Education initiative in The Citizen is a dynamic textbook that chronicles our times and stimulates young minds.

Teachers can use The Citizen newspaper to teach about current events, mock tests, math and cost comparison skills, geography and meteorology, history, environmental issues and much more.

The Citizen intends to provide teachers at all levels, from kindergarten to adult education, with the tools to provide new ideas and programs that they can use in the classroom.

“It is our role as media to not only inform and entertain, but to educate as well. So, this initiative is the extension of our core duty as arbiters of news, stretching our area of coverage beyond news and events. Teachers and students will find this platform of great benefit to them,” said The Citizen managing editor Mpoki Thomson.

NIE is an international program that promotes and increases our children’s literacy by using the newspaper as a teaching tool. NIE is a unique way for schools, businesses and the newspapers to work together in a partnership that benefits all of us - now and in the future.

It started in the 1930s by The New York Times to deliver papers free of charge to schools. The program has expanded worldwide as a “Living Textbook Program” because it describes the fresh curriculum material available in the newspaper on a daily basis.

70 percent to 80 percent do not read outside the classroom. Those who do read spend only one third as much time reading as they spend watching television.

More than five NIE programs are delivering newspapers and educational programs to nearly 40 percent of all public school students in East Africa (Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya) except Tanzania, and a few others.

Research studies show improved reading habits, improved performance, more lively learning and teaching environments in the NIE participating schools.

Our target

The Citizen’s NIE aims at reaching 10 schools in every region (25 regions), a total of 250 schools and over 1.5 million learners benefiting from the program.

Individuals, companies and organizations that can enable The Citizen to provide thousands of daily newspapers to students and educators across Tanzania.

Newspapers in Education by The Citizen is in response to a call by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to the private sector to contribute towards the provision of teaching and learning materials for better delivery of education.

Offer to sponsors

The Citizen offers sponsors the following opportunities to tell our community how they support Tanzania’s children through education:

The Citizen shall place NIE ads to recognize program sponsors;

Fliers featuring sponsor name or logo sent to schools;

Recognition of sponsors on all NIE literature; and the business logo and school activations.