Children of Choba Primary School
Motto: Education is Wealth
We currently have 284 children studying in 7 classes and they attend every weekday between 7.30 and 3pm. All children receive free porridge every school day and pay 20p for a huge plate of rice and beans at lunchtime. This extra nutrition is essential as 11% of our children only have one meal a day at home.
The emphasis at our school is on delivering a much higher quality education than is normally available in rural Tanzania. Our results so far have been excellent and prove that we are doing something out of the ordinary. In 2020, 2018 and 2017 Choba came top of Pangani District out of 35 schools in the National Primary School Leaving Examinations (in 2019 and 2021 we were a close second). In 2020 we also had 9 of our 31 students in the District top 10 for their gender, out of 1,379 students. All Choba students passed to go on to secondary school and we now have sponsors enabling 78 Choba graduates from our first 7 years to attend top quality private secondary schools and colleges. Choba Primary School is now consistently placed in the top 5% of all Tanzanian primary schools, despite doing the exams in English and being in one of the least developed districts.
The school follows the Tanzanian Government National Curriculum. All the children study English, Kiswahili, Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Vocational Skills and Physical Development and Sports (PDS). From Class 3 upwards they also learn History, Geography and Civics. The children play football, netball and volleyball and we have an excellent record in inter-school competitions. We also teach subjects not on the curriculum such as art, music, drama and debating.
Our children really love school, and we have no absenteeism except through genuine illness.
We have 12 mostly young highly motivated Primary School teachers, many of whom are from Pangani District themselves. They have been chosen for their proficiency at English language, their commitment to our school and their enthusiasm for the teaching profession. Abraham Temu, our Head Teacher, has been with us since the Primary School started in 2009. That year he taught 35 children in Class 1 under a tree while we raised funds to built the first 2 classrooms.
Education is an on going process, even for our teachers. Head Teacher Temu travelled to London in September 2012 and spent 2 weeks on a reciprocal visit at University College School Junior Branch in Hampstead. He learned a huge amount in a short time and is now busy putting it all into practice in Choba!