Njia Panda Primary School

Today we visited the Njia Panda Primary School near the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This is a public school near one of the nicer resorts we stayed at near the Ngorongoro Crater.

The campus was laid out pretty well with a nice garden between each of the classroom buildings. Many of the 45-50  students in each classroom who attend the school are poor but each of the students is expected To make it to secondary school.

We started the day by visiting a classroom of 12-13 year old children. They had all started learning English and they were clearly expected to speak with us in English to answer and ask questions. It was fun to hear the questions and ask a few of our own.

We then made it across campus to see the kitchen and green house, which had been funded by USAID. Again, it was great fun to meet the kids along the way, filled with joy to see these visitors from another country.

This kitchen serves 564 kids twice a day.

Kids get to wash the dishes out in the yard after lunch.

A very well equipped greenhouse gives an opportunity for the kids to learn about agriculture and also helps the school make money to help pay for the education of the kids.

Public Education in Tanzania is free for everyone. Apparently, the federal government promises to pay $6 per year per student. They often even fall short of that. There are certain costs that parents are responsible for. Parents are required to give the school something like 60 kilos of corn and 40 kilos of beans per child per year. Needles to say, not everyone can pull that off. 

Our visit to the school was set up by the tour company to give back to the local community and raise money for the school. This is clearly something worth doing given the situation these kids are in and the need they each have for a good education.