Sawe Primary School. Time to build classrooms 8&9
When in 2017 the Sawe community approached LTT about their need for a new school, what struck us first was their total commitment, passion and determination. The Chairman of the community explained that their children, some as young as 5, had to walk 5-6 km to school and back each day, that when they got there the classrooms were overcrowded, the toilet facilities awful and despite attempts to organise a feeding programme the children were not being fed. Knowing that education is the best weapon to fight poverty, they raised their concerns with the Babati Town Director who allocated them land and gave them permission to build their own school.
They started to build and with the support of LTT the first 3 classrooms, toilets and a temporary kitchen were opened in January 2018 for Standard 1 and Kindergarten students and the community worked together to provide every child with porridge. In these early years the children only get 1/2 a day of schooling so porridge was all that was needed.
It is now 2021 and there are 7 classrooms , two teachers offices and the kitchen has been completed. There are 407 students and 10 teachers and, for full time students, a lunchtime meal, provided by the community. The school has kindergarten and standards 1,2,3 and 4 students and an exam pass rate of 89%. It is interesting to note that the 11% who did not pass are students who were transferred into the school and did not go through the early years which are so important. The teachers are working hard with this group to try and bring them up to the same standard.
In 2021, the school took on Standard 4, the first one that takes National Exams, so it is a big deal.
In 2022 the school will take on Standard 5 and at the moment there are no classrooms for them to study in. So we need to raise funds to build and fitout a double classroom to accommodate this new intake. In fact we need to add 3 double classrooms over the next 3 years to meet the demand as the schools grows to its full potential. But one step at a time….
Like all buildings the classroom will be made up of hundreds of cement bricks and other building and fitout materials. Every brick will be crucial to the success in providing these children with a safe space to learn. We will be asking lots of people to donate towards the total. The community will also be contributing materials and labour, it is a partnership.
How can you help?
A cement brick costs £0.60
A bag of cement costs £5.50
A roofing sheet costs £9.65
A school desk costs £31.00
A teachers desk and chair costs £68.97
A rainwater tank costs £500
A metal window frame costs £51.72
“Without a good relationship between the school and the community you can’t effectively educate the children but here the community love the school and are committed to their children’s education.
I am happy to teach here because the schools infrastructure is good... we have good toilets, good kitchen and store, and water tanks for rain water harvesting, good classroom blocks have been built, with plenty of furniture. All of these and other things make me happy and calm when I am teaching. Feeding students makes me feel proud because I can see them studying, I feel proud of the community too.”
Classrooms 1-7 of the Sawe Primary School
“I feel very proud having this Sawe school here in our street, we are happy seeing young kids playing and studying hard, beautiful classrooms that we have built with our MCDO/ LTT partners. Before our kids were having to walk long distances but now they study near their homes.”
The School Development Committee