By Our Reporter
Bagamoyo. When Sarrah Gira walks through the gate of Kiromo Primary School each morning, her hands are free. No stack of textbooks. No pile of teaching files. Instead, she carries a small phone-like device connected to a digital e-book router installed at the school.
Inside the compact system are the textbooks she once struggled to access. For Gira and her 23 fellow teachers, the router has transformed lesson preparation. Teachers can now review lessons instantly without visiting the library or carrying printed books.
“Everything is in the device,” Gira says. “I can prepare the lesson without looking for books. The lack of printed textbooks is no longer a stress for us.”
The e-book router, part of Airtel Tanzania’s education support programme, allows teachers to project digital textbooks onto classroom screens so pupils can follow lessons together. A computer room with 20 machines has also introduced students to basic digital literacy, a skill increasingly essential as Tanzania integrates technology into its education system.
Electrification has brought practical benefits beyond digital instruction. Ceiling fans cool classrooms during the coastal heat. Lighting extends the usability of facilities. Photocopy services reduce the burden of preparing lessons.
Head Teacher Flora Mlowe says the improvements have had measurable effects. Enrollment has more than doubled over the past decade, rising from fewer than 700 pupils before 2012 to 1,568 today. Attendance has strengthened, and examination pass rates are steadily increasing.
“Parents see the environment and feel confident,” Mlowe says from her office, itself part of the school’s renovation. “Even neighboring villages send their children here.”
Infrastructure has become a magnet for enrollment. Toilets, clean water, reliable electricity, internet connectivity, and a secure fence signal safety and seriousness, two factors critical to parental trust.
For Gira, who joined the school in 2009, the transformation is deeply personal. She recalls when pupils had to cross the busy Bagamoyo–Dar es Salaam road to fetch water, a daily risk that tragically claimed a child’s life.
“It shattered parents’ confidence,” she says. “Many were afraid to send their children.”
The construction of a well inside the school compound eliminated the hazard, restoring trust and stabilizing attendance.
“After that, the fear reduced. Children could stay in school safely,” Gira says.
Security was another concern. Broken classroom windows and the absence of a fence once allowed pupils to slip away unnoticed. Today, a perimeter wall and secured classrooms have reduced absenteeism and strengthened discipline.
Further upgrades are now underway. Airtel Tanzania is repairing floors, repainting classrooms and fences, modernising electrical and water systems, installing ceiling boards, adding ten new toilet units, supplying additional computers, and donating 250 desks to address furniture shortages.
The ongoing work underscores Airtel’s commitment to supporting education. During a recent visit, Airtel Tanzania Managing Director Charles Kamoto toured the school with members of the company’s leadership team.
“Airtel Tanzania believes that education is one of the most powerful tools for transforming communities and empowering the next generation,” Kamoto said. “Through initiatives like this renovation project at Kiromo Primary School, we aim to create a better and more supportive learning environment where students can thrive and reach their full potential.”
Beatrice Singano, Head of Regulatory, Corporate Affairs and Communications at Airtel Tanzania, reaffirmed the company’s commitment, noting that the 250 new desks would provide students with comfortable learning spaces.
Students at Kiromo expressed appreciation for the company’s support, particularly the computer facilities, which allow them to access digital learning materials and expand knowledge through technology.
Across Tanzania, infrastructure gaps remain a key driver of school dropout rates, particularly in rural and peri-urban communities.
Overcrowded classrooms, poor sanitation, and lack of water disproportionately affect girls and younger pupils.
By addressing these structural barriers, corporate-supported programmes like Airtel’s Adopt a School initiative complement government efforts to expand access to quality education.
Yet teachers caution that technology alone cannot transform learning. Training, curriculum alignment, and ongoing maintenance remain essential to sustaining improvements.
For pupils like Shamila Juma, the benefits are already clear. “The projector is clear and faster,” she says. “I understand and enjoy the subjects more.”
On a typical morning, the school compound feels orderly and confident. The national flag flutters above classrooms filled with attentive pupils. Sarrah Gira walks toward her class, the small device in her hand carrying what once required shelves of textbooks.
Kiromo Primary School’s journey underscores a broader lesson: infrastructure shapes opportunity. Safe water reduces risk. Electricity expands possibilities. Digital tools accelerate understanding. Together, they create an ecosystem where learning can flourish — and where the weight of teaching has become lighter, while opportunities for students have grown far larger.
