Dar es Salaam. Former pupils who completed Standard Seven at Oysterbay Primary School in 1985 have donated a modern Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purification plant worth Sh13 million to improve access to safe drinking water for students, teachers, and support staff at the school.
Speaking during the commissioning of the facility, the chairman of the alumni group, Mr Francis Haule, said the project was inspired by a visit of former pupils made to the school in January last year, during which they identified several challenges facing the institution.
He said the alumni, together with the Kinondoni District Commissioner, Mr Thomas Apson, visited the historic school in December 2024 and assessed several areas requiring urgent intervention.
According to Mr Haule, the challenges included the need to renovate the school hall, particularly its roof and ceiling, improve reading and learning facilities, and provide modern teaching equipment such as smart boards and smart televisions for nursery, lower primary, and upper primary classes.
He added that the school was also facing a shortage of about 20 toilet units and required improvements to the head teacher’s office.
Mr Haule said the alumni resolved to mobilise resources among themselves after identifying the challenges, opting to address the water problem first because of its direct impact on students’ health and well-being.
The newly installed Reverse Osmosis system is capable of treating saline water, removing harmful contaminants and microorganisms, and producing safe drinking water suitable for human consumption.
“Our group has 76 members, but 30 contributed directly to this project. We decided to start with the water challenge because students were struggling to access clean and safe drinking water. Today, students, teachers, and other staff members can obtain safe drinking water directly from the tap,” said Mr Haule.
The event was attended by several former teachers who taught the alumni when they enrolled in Standard One in 1979.
Kinondoni Municipal Education, Equipment and Statistics Officer, Ms Moshi Abdallah, commended the former pupils for their patriotism and commitment to supporting their former school.
“What these alumni have done is exemplary. We encourage graduates of other schools to come forward and help address the challenges facing the institutions where they studied,” she said.
The school’s head teacher, Mr Igidius Mjunangoma, said the project would benefit 1,507 students, as well as teachers and support staff.
“This is a significant contribution. Our responsibility now is to ensure the facility is properly maintained so that it can continue serving the school community for many years,” he said.
Mr Twisa Emmanuel, one of the technical experts involved in the project, said the plant is capable of producing up to 500 litres of clean water per hour.
He noted that samples of the treated water were tested at the Water Institute under the Ministry of Water and certified safe for human consumption.
“This is a modern system with a high capacity to improve water quality by removing salt and other impurities that may pose health risks,” said Mr Emmanuel.
