Tigo supports education growth in Tanzania

According to Tigo General Manager, Diego Gutierrez, the support is in line with Tigo’s commitment to support community initiatives through its corporate social responsibility portfolio.

Tigo’s gesture is also part of a US$ 50,000 pledge by the telecom in response to the government’s call to individuals, company’s, organizations and other stakeholders to help offset the shortage of desks in the country’s schools.

In May 2014, Tanzania’s then Prime Minister, Peter Mizengo Pinda said that the country was facing a shortage of 1.4 million desks in its primary schools.

“Statistics have shown that Tanzania needs about 3.3 million desks for her primary schools while the available ones are only 1.8 million. We therefore, have a deficit of 1.5 million”, the former PM is quoted by the media as saying at the time.

“It costs Tshs. 120,000 (US$ 57) to make one desk”, the now-retired premier had opined, and continued to add that if the government would decide to make 100,000 desks at Tshs 12 billion, it would take 12 years to end the problem-and asked for support from well-wishers and other like-minded parties.

“I really thank Tigo for providing us with desks. Our school had a serious shortage of desks and most of the pupils were sitting on the floor and this impeded the required academic performance. However, with the available desks, our pupils will now be able to enjoy the comfort on sitting on them and hence better performance in their day to day academic tasks”, said an elated Lutufyo Mwakilima, the head-master of Nsalaga Primary School in Mbeya Urban District.

A standard seven pupil at the school, Sylvanus Mwanganya, said of the desks from Tigo: “I thank Tigo very much because now I can sit comfortably and study without the discomfort of sitting on the floor like it was before. The desks will help me and other pupils to concentrate more in our studies and hence excel in our examinations”.