Tanzania’s Unified Champion Schools’ project in motion

DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania is implementing well the Unified Champion Schools (UCS) project through hosting series of Inclusive Sporting activities as one way of promoting inclusion.

The project which is bankrolled by Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity (MBZFH) was successfully launched on May 22, 2026 targeting 58 Primary Schools in five subprograms in Dar es Salaam namely Ilala, Temeke, Kigamboni, Kinondoni and Ubungo.

Its fundamental purpose is to ensure that intellectual disabled pupils and their unified partners are actively engaged through playing and learning together.

In his recent briefing, Dar es Salaam Region Education Officer Abeid Mlanzi clarified that he is satisfied with the progress of the project in all five subprograms of Dar es Salaam.

“Inclusive Sports is very important in schools because it makes pupils to be active all the time hence promoting their overall health and also, it helps them to perform well in class.

“I am thankful to Special Olympics for including us as among the beneficiaries of MBZFH project which I am fully convinced that it will successfully be implemented,” he said.

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Special Olympics Tanzania (SOT) National Director Charles Rays clarified that the project is reaching out to around 80 teachers of intellectual disabled pupils and their unified partners who are being trained on how to manage inclusive sporting activities.

“Also, sports gears are being provided so that pupils should easily participate in unified sports without any challenges,” he said.

He added that it is the objective of SOT in cooperation with government and other stakeholders to ensure sustainability of the project so that it can proceed beyond the current MBZFH project timeframe.

On his part, Maarifa Primary School teacher Eugen Stephen disclosed that at their school, pupils engage in unified sports on regular basis and that it necessitate them to be active learners in class.

“We regularly play unified sports and pupils like them a lot…I wish this program could have been done in all parts of the country in order to deepen this inclusive culture,” he said.