Nianjema High School Creates Opportunities
Nianjema has added high school courses and is now the Nianjema Secondary and High School. This change increases the prestige of the school, increases opportunities for students and allows them to complete college preparation courses with their Nianjema friends and teachers they know.
Secondary school offers Forms I through IV, which can be compared to US grades 7, 8, 9 and 10. The addition of the high school means that Forms V and VI (Grades 11 and 12) are now offered at the school.
“It’s also a response to student demand,” notes Tanzania Education Fund (TEF) Executive Director Daphne Sloan. “When students were close to graduating they began to request a high school so they could have two more years at Nianjema. Otherwise, they had to leave the school and complete their high school education elsewhere.” TEF supports Nianjema.
We’ve added teachers to meet the additional, higher level course demands. Twenty-three new teachers, with qualifications to teach high school subjects, have joined the school and 75 students are enrolled in the inaugural forms.
Making the final two years of pre-college education available also means that more children can aspire to University. High school students are tested and graded nationally on content learned in Forms V and VI. “If an individual doesn’t complete the higher forms, they don’t have a chance of going to University,” Sloan adds.
The Nianjema Secondary and High School will stand out because it offers six different streams or emphases of study as compared to 2 or 3 in many other schools.
Such advancements are possible through USAID support for the new High School Building (due to open in the spring) and through funds for faculty and students from TEF supporters.