Our Education Scheme
Background information:
Historically, the Anglican Church in Zanzibar played a major role in the delivery of social services such as education, with a vision of empowering the freed slaves. Following the January 12, 1964 Revolution, Zanzibar Government introduced national policy which nationalised all social services. That policy did affect Church social services delivery.
Need for the Education scheme
According to the Zanzibar strategy for Growth and reduction of poverty (ZSGRP)
2007, among the factors facing the education sector are poor access to schools
in terms of distance and lack of qualified teachers.
The Church realised the concern and need for Children to access quality education in the Tanzania mainland because the standards of education services on the island do not prepare Christian children to realise their full potential in this competitive world and even then it limits their chances of job opportunities and self entrepreneurship in the Moslem dominated island.
Therefore the Diocese established an Education scheme fund that raises money to meet the growing demand for access to quality education for the Christian communities in Zanzibar by supporting Children from disadvantaged Christian families and building the capacity of staff and Clergy to enable them deliver services more professionally. Due to the growing demand to access quality education, there has been an establishment of an internal education basket fund to compliment on external efforts. The capacity to offer this service is still limited and therefore external and internal resource mobilisation for this scheme is an ongoing process.
Scope of the Scheme:
The Diocese has been running an Education sponsorship scheme since the year 2000 and 120 young Christian children from disadvantaged families have benefited from the programme. The Scheme will run a ten year programme, as a short term strategy to mobilize for resources for supporting the scheme until sustainable strategies of the Scheme are fully established in the long run. The Scheme will continue to target Beneficiaries who are academically able but from Poor families. Special consideration will also be given to prioritized education according to demand especially for staff capacity building.
Vision of the scheme:
The ultimate goal of the scheme is to form a strong base for Christian elites
on the island fully liberated from Moslem dominion and superiority through
education that will help them build capacity to fulfill their potential as
God’s own creation.
Mission of the scheme:
To identify and enable Staff and Young Christian Children from Poor families’
access quality education that will groom them for self sustainability in the
future.
Benefits of the scheme:
If Christian Children are able to access education services, the Diocese will
have an opportunity to recruit from within the region and therefore save costs.
This project will also enable the Diocese to deliver services to people more
effectively if the staff and clergy are trained. In the long run it will also
save the Diocese costs of handling the unemployed Youth and groom them into
useful members of the society. The impact of the scheme is that the families of
the direct Beneficiaries will be supported when they getter better employment
as a result of the scheme. The communities where these people live will benefit
from the knowledge and skills acquired by the direct beneficiaries. Through the
activities in which the direct beneficiaries will be engaged the communities
and the Church will be uplifted with the presence of a well educated flock that
can carry on the ministry of the Church in this predominant Muslim Island.
Strategy:
Announcements are done at parish level each end of year, applications invited,
interviews administered to assess the academic capacity of Applicants. The
economic capacity of Guardians/parents is scrutinized before enrolling
Beneficiaries to the scheme. Education and training opportunities from
different institutions is secured to enable beneficiaries’ access quality education
relevant to their needs and skills.
The Diocese is developing a long-term strategy to depend on its local resources such as internal resource mobilisation strategies for the education basket fund and establishing income generating projects like Construction of Hostels to earn sustainable income from the booming tourism Industry.
Programme Implementation and management:
In the implementation of the project, The Diocesan Education Coordinator is
responsible for enrollment and tracking down on the progress of beneficiaries.
The Education officer submits Project progress reports to the Diocesan Secretary General who is responsible for reporting back to partners.