480 students at Samta Primary School in Babati, Tanzania can access quality education in 2022 thanks to support provided through So They Can’s Ubuntu Consortium.

Beyond students – parents, teachers and the broader community all benefit from So They Can’s interlinked and complementary projects implemented in the school community through a holistic approach that improves quality education, and achieves cross-cutting community development.

Access to education and literacy can change a child’s life. Now, in an exciting development at Samta Primary School, it is also changing the lives of parents through an Adult Literacy Program.

The three R’s – reading, writing and arithmetic – are the foundation skills of literacy and numeracy. However in underserved communities, like Babati in Tanzania, older generations lack these important skills due to intergenerational and multi-dimensional poverty.

Two dedicated teachers at Samta Primary School are on a mission to change that.

Together they have initiated the Adult Literacy Program, which invites students’ parents to access their skilled support through a structured learning program at the school. The first cohort of enrolled parents consists of 8 eager adults (4 women and 4 men) who attend classes from 2pm until 5pm on weekdays at the school.

60% of the parents have already mastered reading and writing skills since commencing studying this year. All participants have shown remarkable dedication and determination in their learning given their responsibilities managing their young families, and they will continue attending classes throughout the remainder of the year.

Now with improved reading skills, the parents can also access and enjoy books through Samta’s Mobile Box Library. Both children and their parents can enjoy the experience of reading through engaging story books in the local language, Swahili, books which were donated in 2020 as a part of So They Can’s Let’s Learn project.

The mobile library is a collection of 175 books in boxes and shared across Standard 1 and 2 classrooms for students to access, and their parents through the Adult Literacy Program. It ensures that despite limitations in the school’s infrastructure to provide a dedicated library space, everyone has the opportunity to further develop their literacy through reading.