Libraries for Secondary Schools
Since 2014, WAF has been working in partnership with READ International to set up reading libraries in schools across Mtwara and Lindi, where WAF funds 100% of the project.
Libraries are important in schools as they provide teachers and students with print and digital materials that offer opportunities to strengthen student learning. School library programs stimulate critical thinking, providing students with the skills they need to analyse, form, and communicate ideas.
WAF’s Libraries for Secondary Schools program is implemented by a local Tanzanian legal registered non-government-organization called Realising Development Through Education (READ). Through this program WAF and READ aim at “improving the quality of education in Tanzania, with a clear focus to ensure the Government schools’ environment is conducive and supports learning and teaching.”
The program provides schools with textbooks, fictional and non-fictional books, and five computers, each with educational software (Soma Direct) which enables the students to access online and offline educational-related reading resources.
Further, the program provides teachers with the capacity to increase knowledge and improve teaching methodologies.
Additional program activities include the creation of reading clubs that equip students with reading skills, promote a reading culture, and in turn, improve individual self-esteem.
Through the Libraries for Secondary Schools program, some secondary schools in the Mtwara region may be elevated to the High School level. This is an important development as it enables the school to receive more funding from the government.
