Although primary education is free for all in Tanzania, children cannot attend unless they wear school uniform and bring their own exercise books and pens.  Village of Hope and Grace provide school uniforms and all the other needs to orphans so they can attend the school in their village. The cost of this is about 125,000 TZS (about £65) per year for each child. Lessons in primary school are all taught in Kswahili, which is the common language across East Africa. The picture shows pupils (orphans supported by us) at a local primary school.

Fees for attending government-run secondary schools in Tanzania were abolished during the past few years.  However,  children can only attend if they have passed the primary school exams, have school uniforms (including shoes) and equipment, and can pay the school 'contributions'.  This is an impossibility without support.  It costs about 200,000 TZS (about £100) per year for a child to attend secondary school.  Village of Hope and Grace is determined that any orphan from the villages that passes the exam will go on to secondary school, enabling them to have better employment options.  Lessons in secondary school are taught in English, which is a massive challenge for many of the pupils (and staff!). Students are often directed to attend a secondary school away from their home village.  This means we have to rent rooms for them to stay during the week.  The picture on the left shows many of the VHG-sponsored orphaned children who attended Ikuyu Secondary School.

In an attempt to give our children the best possible chance of being successful at school, Village of Hope and Grace have started two initiatives. Firstly, we are sending some of the children to pre-Form 1 training at private schools where they will learn English and so be better able to succeed at secondary school.  Secondly, we are sending some of the most able students to private schools.  This is much more expensive but gives the students much better life chances.

When the children finish secondary school, VHG support them to go to High School, colleges and even to university. Some of the children are now studying to become teachers, car mechanics, nurses, civil servants and tailors. Others are training for roles within the local tourism industry. These older children are studying at many locations around Tanzania.

As the costs of college and university education are much more expensive, Village of Hope and Grace has set up an Academic Fund to support these students. Find out more about this fund here.