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Busegwe Girls High School

By Danford Adano Oyuke

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Danford Adano Oyuke, B.Ed. (The Open University of Tanzania) is the education director of the Mara Conference. He previously served as principal of Busegwe Girls High School (2008-2010). A Tanzanian by birth, he is married to Esther Menya and has one son and two daughters.

First Published: March 23, 2021

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Busegwe Girls High School is located on the site of the first Seventh-day Adventist mission established in Tanzania in 1903. The location operated as the headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church from that time until 1978, when the mission office was moved to Arusha. Some of the buildings used by the school are those that were built by the missionaries. It is the only Adventist girls’ school in Tanzania.

Location

Busegwe Girls High School is located at Busegwe Village, Butuguri Ward, Makongoro Division in Butiama District, Mara Region, Tanzania. By road, the school is approximately thirty kilometers southeast of Musoma, the headquarters of Mara Region. It lies approximately eight kilometers northwest of Butiama, also by road, which is the birthplace of Julius Kambarage Nyerere, the first president of the nation of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Background

In the early 2000s, Adventist parents petitioned the education department of the Mara Conference to establish a single sex secondary school, particularly a girls’ school, for their children. They believed that in such a school their daughters, unhindered by gender stereotyping and the influence of boys, would become more confident in their studies.1 The Mara Conference leadership concurred with these parents. When the Mara Conference headquarters moved from Busegwe Mission to Makoko in Musoma Municipality in 2006, it was resolved to establish a girls’ high school on the former office premises.2 Plans were made by the Mara Conference leadership to renovate and modify some of the Busegwe office buildings into classrooms under the supervision of the Mara Conference education director.3 Lumber was cut from trees on the campus to build desks, chairs, tables, and beds for the students. Some of the staff houses were converted to dormitories for the students who would come from distant places.

The Establishment of Busegwe Girls High School

In 2008, the government of the United Republic of Tanzania authorized the opening of Busegwe Girls High School.4 The school started as a high school receiving students into form five on May 11, 2008.5 It opened with seven teachers, three support staff and twenty-three students from different parts of Tanzania. The advanced level subject combinations the school started with were history, geography, and English language; and history, Kiswahili and English language. On April 30, 2009, the school was accorded permanent registration by the government of the United Republic of Tanzania, with registration number S.4142, and was allowed the capacity of 120 students in two forms.6 In this registration, the Mara Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Church was declared to be the owner and manager of Busegwe Girls High School.

Although the school started as a high school with only two advanced level classes—forms five and six—the need to have ordinary level classes was observed by the conference and other stakeholders. Introducing ordinary level would increase the number of students and improve the finances of the school. This required the school to apply to the government for permission to offer ordinary level education classes from form one to form four. The government approved the request on November 16, 2010. Since 2011, the school has enrolled students from forms one to six. 7 The maximum number of students permitted is 320 students in ordinary level and 120 in advanced level.8 The Adventist Accreditation Association (AAA) team visited the school for the first time in 2013, and it awarded the school category C accreditation for a period of three years ending December 31, 2015.9 It has since been renewed.

First Staff

The first teachers of the school were Danford Adano Oyuke, who was the head of school, Joyce Akeyo, who was the second mistress, and a Kiswahili teacher. Other teachers were Eric Omurwa (general studies), Wilson Emmanuel Matarishi (English language), Paul Joshua Malongo (geography), Peter Chacha (history), and Elkana Birore (Bible). The support staff were Milka Manyanki (accountant and cashier), Esther D. Oyuke (administrative assistant), and Sarah Stephano (cook).

Academic Performance

The school’s academic performance is satisfactory. In 2019, certificate secondary education examination (NECTA) results ranked it sixteenth out of 177 schools in the Mara Region and 486th out of 3,488 schools in the nation. In 2020, it ranked the sixteenth out of 182 schools in the region and 415th out of 3,956 schools in the nation. Moreover, in advanced level the school is also faring well. In 2019, it ranked third out of seven schools in the Mara Region and seventy-eighth out of 134 schools in the nation with less than forty candidates. In 2020, they ranked fourth out of six in the region and sixty-second out of 176 schools in the same category.10

The School and Church Mission

The school operates on an Adventist system of education whereby the students are given holistic education. Apart from engagement in academic affairs, the school administration assures the fulfillment of the mission of the Church. Both staff and students unite in outreach activities to make disciples for Jesus Christ through their loving witness. Both Adventist and non-Adventist students enjoy the evangelistic campaigns conducted on and off campus. Every year, forty to fifty students on average commit their lives to Christ as their personal Savior and are baptized.11 Many local churches around the school partner with the school for outreach campaigns.

Challenges Facing the School

Busegwe Girls High School still faces challenges that in one way or another impede its progress. Insufficient enrollment has led to economic hardships such as failure to pay workers’ remuneration. Renovation of the school’s old buildings constructed by the original missionaries in early twentieth has also been postponed. For example, in 2016 the enrollment was 235, in 2017 and 2018 it dropped to 192 and 195 respectively. In 2019 and 2020, there was a small increase of enrollment to 226.12

School Principals

Danford Adano Oyuke (2008-2010), Bahati Christopher (2010-2011), Tunu Mruma (2011-2015), and Grace Jacob (2016-present).

Sources

Busegwe Girls High School. Quarterly Statistical reports. 2016-2020.

Executive Committee. May 2, 2006. Mara Conference Archives, Musoma, Tanzania.

National Examinations Council of Tanzania. Accessed March 29, 2021. https://maktaba.tetea.org/.

URT Chief Education Officer to Busegwe Girls High School. September 3, 2008.

URT Commissioner of Education to Mara Conference President. November 16, 2010.

URT Commissioner of Education. Registration Certificate. Busegwe Girls High School. August 8, 2009.

Notes

  1. James Machage, president of the Mara Conference 2000-2010, interview by author, February 5, 2021.↩

  2. Executive Committee, February 5, 2006, Mara Conference Archives, Musoma, Tanzania.↩

  3. George Ezekiel Ojwang, Mara Conference education director 2007-2008, interview by author, March 26, 2021.↩

  4. Letter to approve the construction of Busegwe Girls High School issued by the URT Chief Education Officer, September 3, 2008.↩

  5. Busegwe Girls School, Events Logbook Records, 2008.↩

  6. Letter of Busegwe Girls High School, Permanent Registration, URT Chief Education Officer on April 30, 2009.↩

  7. Letter of Additional O-level Streams, URT Commissioner of Education to Mara Conference President, November 16, 2010.↩

  8. Registration Certificate of Busegwe Girls High School, URT Chief Education Officer, August 18, 2009.↩

  9. Letter of Accreditation, AAA Evaluation Team to Busegwe Girls High School, July 22, 2013.↩

  10. “CSEE 2019 Examination Results Enquiries,” National Examinations Council of Tanzania, January 11, 2020, accessed March 29, 2021, https://maktaba.tetea.org/exam-results/CSEE2019/csee.htm; “CSEE 2020 Examination Results Enquiries,” National Examinations Council of Tanzania, January 15, 2021, accessed March 29, 2021, https://maktaba.tetea.org/exam-results/CSEE2020/csee.htm; “ACSEE 2019 Examination Results Enquiries,” National Examinations Council of Tanzania, n. d., accessed March 29, 2021, https://maktaba.tetea.org/exam-results/ACSEE2019/index.htm; and “ACSEE 2020 Examination Results Enquiries,” National Examinations Council of Tanzania, August 21, 2021, accessed March 29, 2021, https://maktaba.tetea.org/exam-results/ACSEE2020/index.htm.↩

  11. Baptismal Records, Busegwe Quarterly Statistical Reports, 2016-2020.↩

  12. Enrollment Records, Busegwe Quarterly Statistical Reports, 2016-2020.↩

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Oyuke, Danford Adano. "Busegwe Girls High School." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. March 23, 2021. Accessed July 04, 2025. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9F8U.

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Oyuke, Danford Adano. "Busegwe Girls High School." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. March 23, 2021. Date of access July 04, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9F8U.

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Oyuke, Danford Adano (2021, March 23). Busegwe Girls High School. Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved July 04, 2025, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9F8U.

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