African school has a bright future thanks to WA

15 Jan 2014

By Matthew Biddle

Students at Njelela Environmental Secondary School (NESS) proudly show off a new mango plant in a field near the school. Many of the children spend hours before and after school in the fields, planting a variety of crops.

Tanzanian priest, and the brains behind a self-sustaining school in that African country, Fr Melodious Mlowe says the school is operating well one year after opening.

Fr Melodious visited WA last month, and spoke to The Record about the innovative project’s successes and the various challenges it has faced.

Construction of Njelela Environmental Secondary School (NESS) commenced in 2010, with initial costs being met largely by a team of WA supporters.

In the long term, the school will be self-sustaining, thanks to the 500,000 pine trees planted on land owned by the school and land owned by Fr Melodious’ family.

School numbers have grown, with 34 students joining the cohort after completing a three-month English course, and more infrastructure has been built.

“We have constructed toilets for all the classrooms and dormitories and started building teachers’ houses,” Fr Melodious said.

The school is at the top of a hill, so getting water to the site had been problematic, until a spring was found, providing a large amount of good quality water for the school and the local village.

“We have managed to install a 7.9km long water pipe; this has been done in collaboration with the villagers. Now water’s flowing at the school,” Fr Melodious explained.

The school specialises in science, a field of study rarely on offer in Tanzania, a country where only primary education is compulsory.

“Our government has minimised the attention they are giving to schools, particularly in remote places,” Fr Melodious said.

“We are in short supply of people qualified in some areas, particularly technical fields.”

Perth supporter of the school Paul Mutton has visited Tanzania and told The Record the quality of education in the country is poor. “Overall, in the whole of Tanzania last year, 60 per cent of the Year 10 students failed, and that includes the private schools,” he said.

“This school has access to the internet, they’ve got computers there and printers, whereas they’re absent in government schools.”

Nonetheless, the school’s 160 students have shown great enthusiasm to be studying at Njelela.

“The students are highly motivated and they consider themselves highly privileged to be at the school,” Fr Melodious said.

“I’m looking forward to a very good future for the school.”