Empowering Secondary Students To Thrive
In January of 2023, we opened our first dormitory at Oldeani Secondary School (OSS) and welcomed 96 female and 64 male students to live on campus.
Now, six months later, we sat down with Form 4 student Katherine Maganga to understand what the transition to boarding has been like.
Katherine, a humble and intelligent young woman, was quick to express her gratitude for living on campus as she previously walked over an hour to school every day.
In addition to the lengthy commute, Katherine had many obstacles standing in the way of her success as a student. She was one of the many girls in Tanzania who worked an average of 28 hours per week on top of her schooling. When Katherine would return home from school, she had a long list of responsibilities including fetching water, preparing food, cleaning the house, and helping care for her siblings.
“There wasn’t a place or any time to study. One of the things I like best about living at school is I can focus on learning and my grades are better” Katherine explained. By offering a robust boarding program, we are not only combating the risks associated with walking to school but empowering students to focus on their studies.
At OSS we have seen academic performance improve for all boarding students. This is evident in the recent midterm examination results being 20% higher than last year’s graduating class.
While TCF is proud to share these academic achievements, we are most thrilled with the improvements in overall student well-being. By providing access to medical care, nutritional meals, mentorship, focused learning opportunities, life-skills training, and extracurricular activities, students are noticeably happier and more motivated.
To ensure all students in Oldeani can safely attend secondary school, we will be constructing a second dormitory that will house an additional 100 at-risk students in 2024.
As our education program expands like never before, we look forward to a future where determined students like Katherine can confidently walk across the stage at graduation as they begin a path to a brighter future.
