Scholarship Fund
“In all the universe man cannot find a well so deep that, when leaning over it, he does not discover at the bottom his own face”
–
quote: Leszek Kołakowski,
Horror metaphysicus
Join us and let’s change the world together!
There is extreme educational poverty in Tanzania. Although compulsory primary education has been officially in place for seven decades, only 60% of children attend school. The situation is much worse among the Maasai. The lack of teachers is a disaster. The level of knowledge and education of those who teach is very low.
That is why we are creating a Scholarship Fund for the most talented Maasai youth.
Reality
WHO STUDIES AND WHERE?
The first and major problem is that
despite compulsory schooling for all children from the age of seven, only 66% of children attend school, bearing in mind the data is according to the optimistic government sources. Another problem shown by research conducted by Tanzanian NGOs is the quality of education. Only about 40% of students in the seventh grade of primary school are able to read and understand simple sentences in English and Kisuahili and perform simple arithmetic operations at the level of the second grade of primary school.
The first eligible scholarship recipients are:
– Kiruti Maiko Magisa
– Maryciana Nyika
Why do we want to educate the Maasai men and women?
The Maasai people are an ethnic group who have been discriminated against and marginalised for at least seven decades. The reason is their cultural and linguistic distinctiveness and their semi nomadic lifestyle. They are constantly chased away from the lands where they have lived for thousands of years. Most children do not have time to attend school because they help with the household chores. The girls walk several kilometres a day to fetch water, while the boys graze cattle.
Quality of education
Children completing their elementary education in public schools often lag enormously behind students
in fee-paying private schools. It is not uncommon for pupils to do compulsory work in the fields belonging to teachers instead of staying in lessons, as teachers are not paid well enough in state schools.
It should also be stressed that teachers are not to blame for the situation – without this, they would not be able to teach at all, as the land feeds them.
TANZANIA – EDUCATION
Tanzania’s contemporary education system can be expressed as 2 + 7 + 4 + 2 + 3. The system has the following organizational units: kindergartens (2 years of education), primary schools (7 years), secondary schools: ordinary level (4 years) and advanced level (2 years) and tertiary education (at least 3 years). In kindergartens, primary and secondary schools it is compulsory for all pupils to wear uniforms which is not a problem for them. Such clothing signals the fact of “being a student”, which in Tanzania is still more of a privilege than a duty and a source of pride.
Obstacles for Maasai youth to access higher education
- NO SECONDARY SCHOOL GRADUATION DIPLOMA
- LIMITED STATE FUNDING AND HIGH TUITION FEES FOR STUDENTS
- VERY LOW NUMBER OF STUDENTS, ONE OF THE LOWEST IN IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
- DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
THE COST OF EDUCATING A NURSE
Tuition fees for an undergraduate degree in nursing at the University amount to US$1,500 per year, plus study aids of approximately US$500 per year.
THE COST OF EDUCATING A MEDICAL DOCTOR
University tuition fees at the Faculty of Medicine in Tanzania are around US$3,000 per year.
Additional costs: deposit, exams, books and study aids, insurance, amount to USD 500 per year.
Summary
WE ARE CREATING A SCHOLARSHIP FUND FOR
MAASAI YOUTH BECAUSE:
- rarely will any Maasai child acquire a level of education that will enable them to apply to university,
- even if they graduate from secondary school, they can never afford to pay tuition fees for their studies,
- this is the only salvation for ambitious girls who are married off immediately after graduating from secondary school (so that the family will increase the herd of cows they buy with the money obtained for the girl from her future husband),
- this gives the Maasai a multi-generational development opportunity;
- this will translate into support for the local community,
- they will help at the medical aid station under construction in central Tanzania, where they will treat and educate the local community,
- over 1,500 people in Maasai villages in the rainforest will have access to healthcare,
- as the fund grows, we will educate more students.
Transparency of the Fund
- Each donor will receive annual reports on how the scholarship fund amounts have been spent.
- Each donor will receive a report on the progress of our students.
- As the number of scholarship recipients increases, each donor will be able to choose the one from the list of ours beneficiaries they still want to support.
