Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School

Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School is a co-educational boarding school situated on a 34-acre (14.21-hectare) site, ten kilometers from Morogoro, Tanzania, and 262.5 kilometers from Dodoma, the capital city. It is 184.9 kilometers from Dar es Salaam, the Tanzania’s major port at the Indian Ocean coast. The institution is operated by the East Central Tanzania Conference, which had a constituency of 52,505 in 2019. It is accredited by the Adventist Accrediting Association (AAA). In 2020, the school enrollment was 530. A total of forty-nine full-time staff members served in the various teaching and staff positions.¹ The school’s mission is “to provide quality Christian education for the harmonious development of the physical, mental, social and spiritual potential of each student.”² It’s academic program provides an ordinary secondary level education (Forms 1 through 4).

Purpose of Establishing the School

The school was strategically established to be a center of influence in the Muslim-dominated regions of Dar es Salaam, Pwani, Morogoro, Lindi, Mtwara, and Zanzibar.³ Students also come from Adventist and other Christian denominations. The school’s internal and community outreach programs have had significant impact on both non-Adventist students and the community at large. Weeks of prayer and camp meetings have led to hundreds of baptisms; thus, the school is accomplishing its mission.

The school is the first, and currently the only, Adventist secondary school in the conference. It was opened in January 2011. The school was registered by the Tanzanian government with registration number S. 4553 on January 30, 2012. The National Examination Council of Tanzania registered the school as an examination center with registration number S. 4867 on March 19, 2011.⁴

The main subjects taught at the school are mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history, civics, English, Kiswahili, literature, bookkeeping, commerce, computer science, and Bible. As per Tanzanian government directives, the school offers four years of lessons before the national examinations are taken. While there are some elective subjects, compulsory subjects include Bible, mathematics, civics, English, Kiswahili, biology and geography.⁵

Impact of the School

Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School’s students consistently perform well in national examinations every year. The school is among the best in the nation and each year it has been awarded a certificate of excellence by the Minister of Education. As a result, a tremendous number of pupils compete to join the school every year. Since its establishment, the school’s enrollment has grown from sixty-nine students in 2011 to 520 in 2020. The enrollment since its establishment is as follows: 69 (2011), 180 (2012), 272 (2013), 370 (2014), 405 (2015), 418 (2016), 437 (2017), 485 (2018), 490 (2019) and 530 (2020).⁶

The school’s boarding facilities are adequately furnished to provide a comfortable life for students. In 2011, the school had two hostels off campus while the construction of three dormitories for boys and four dormitories for the girls took place. All the dormitories were fenced, and supplied with running water and electricity all the time. Fire-fighting devices were also installed in all the dormitories.

For academic programs, the school has well-furnished classes, well-equipped laboratories, a library, and a computer study room. The beautiful multi-purpose hall can accommodate about 1,500 people. It serves as a central place for the gathering of all students and staff. The school also maintains homes for teachers and non-teaching staff, sports fields, a school shop, medical dispensary, cereal granaries and a bakery. All worships are conducted in the multi-purpose hall. Here students and staff meet every Wednesday and Sabbath for services.⁷ Visitors also join in the worship services. The main language of communication in all the worships is English though translation is available for Swahili speakers.

Future Plans

The school’s master plan includes the construction of a new two-story administration block. The building will include the school administrators’ offices, staffroom, academic office, the chaplain’s office, and a boardroom.⁸ The strategic plan includes upgrading the academic program to an advanced level secondary school that prepares students for university entrance requirements (Forms 5 and 6).⁹

Headmasters/Headmistresses

Tizihwa Kazagata, (2011-).

Sources

Kitungwa Adventist School Board Minutes. November 29, 2018. Kitungwa Adventist School archives, Morogoro, Tanzania.

Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School. Staff Handbook. Morogoro, Tanzania: Parapanda Adventist Media Centre, 2019.

Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School. Strategic Plan 2014-2020. Morogoro, Tanzania: Parapanda Adventist Media Center, 2014.

Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School. Student Handbook. Morogoro, Tanzania: Parapanda Adventist Media Centre, 2012.

Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School. Student Handbook. Morogoro, Tanzania: Print & Signs Solution, 2013.

School Admission Register, Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School, February 19, 2020, Morogoro, Tanzania.

Notes

1. Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School, Staff Handbook (Morogoro, Tanzania: Parapanda Adventist Media Centre, 2019), 2.↩

2. Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School, Student Handbook, (Morogoro, Tanzania: Print & Signs Solution, 2013), 3.↩

3. Devotha Shimbe, interview by the author, August 15, 2019, Morogoro, Tanzania.↩

4. Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School, Student Handbook, (Morogoro, Tanzania: Parapanda Adventist Media Centre, 2012), 2.↩

5. Yohana Kadogosa, interview by the author, August 20, 2019, Morogoro, Tanzania.↩

6. School Admission Register, Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School, February 19, 2020.↩

7. Dr. Protus Makimu, interview by the author, February 19, 2020, Morogoro, Tanzania.↩

8. Kitungwa Adventist School Board Minutes, number 212, November 29, 2018.↩

9. Kitungwa Adventist Secondary School, Strategic Plan 2014-2020, (Morogoro, Tanzania: Parapanda Media Centre, 2014), 36↩