About Full Dimension Ministry
Preschool
Our preschool building in the Yulansoni Valley started in 2005. It was created to build the necessary skills for children to enter into the Primary and Secondary system. It started as an outdoor classroom to a cover facility and has expanded to accommodate up to 100 children and offer them a hot lunch.
The school is paid for with donations in the USA to cover materials and the teacher's salaries. Student families also contribute as they can. In Tanzania, Preschool (sometimes referred to as Pre-Primary) is similar to kindergarten and is for children 5-6 years of age and normally lasts two years and is not required in Tanzania. It is normal in rural (outside the city) areas for there to be no pre-primary type school and if there is it normally is a single class for all children held together and is typically a part of a non-profit group.
Within the FDM preschool, students sit at desks designed for three children. Our students get a meal of porridge every day for lunch for free. If it rains before school, then the kids cannot go because the river beds flood and it would be too dangerous for small children because they would have to walk through the river. If it rains while they are in school, they must stay there until an older sibling or parent comes to get them.
We work hard to prepare our children for the next step - mandatory Primary school. Primary school is like elementary and middle school combined into one for ages between 7 and 13 and grades are called Standard 1 through standard 7. The government has waived the tuition fees for these schools but parents must pay for uniforms, testing fees and school supplies. This has lead to great increases in the number of students attending primary school.
To move to Secondary Education (grade 9 and above) students must pass the National Standard 7 Examination. In 2009 less than 50% of all Tanzanian students passed the exam so the Government is working to improve Primary school education. Public primary schools teach in Kiswahili which is the official language of Tanzania. Private schools teach mostly in English to prepare students for Secondary school which is in English in both public and private schools. Courses taught in Primary school include: Kiswahili, mathematics, science, geography, civics, history, English language, vocational subjects, French, religion, information and communication technology, and school sports.
Secondary school is for four years and is only taught in English, by law. The grades are called Form 1-4. This is difficult since that is a third language for most students who have learned Kiswahili as the national language and their tribal or local language. Parents must pay for tuition to Secondary school along with uniform fees, testing fees and other fees to pay for school buildings, furniture and security. After secondary school are two additional years before they can go to a University.
Continuous Work
The classroom expansion has been a great success, and the children are graduating to move on to the next level of education.
School Uniforms
Uniforms for the students were introduced in 2018. Donations help so much for these.