Students acquire practical skills under youth empowerment programme

ARUSHA: SIXTY-SIX students from Mswakini Secondary School in Monduli District, Arusha Region, have completed a youth empowerment programme designed to equip learners with practical skills for self-reliance while still at school.

The students, drawn from Forms One, Two and Three, underwent training in organic farming, livestock keeping and soap manufacturing using locally available materials under the Youth Empowerment Mentorship Programme (YEMP).

Implemented through the Tanzania Partnership Programme (TPP), the initiative seeks to transform students from classroom learners into productive young people capable of applying their knowledge to improve their livelihoods and contribute to their communities.

Monduli District Education Officer Amina Maulid said the programme demonstrated the importance of combining academic education with practical skills.

“Educating children is one thing. But empowering students to become self-reliant and productive industrialists while still in school is another, and this programme has managed to accomplish that,” she said.

The programme was coordinated by the Maasai Women Development Organisation (MWEDO) under the Monduli District Council, in collaboration with Michigan State University in the United States, Sokoine University of Agriculture and the Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE).

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Mswakini Secondary School Headmaster Christian Peter Bogasi said vocational training was consistent with new Ministry of Education directives requiring schools to prepare learners for self-reliance.

He expressed satisfaction that the school had been selected from among 16 government secondary schools in Monduli District to implement the initiative.

Tanzania Partnership School Programme Officer Lineth Sheduo described Mswakini as an example of how mentorship and practical training could help young people develop productive skills beyond the classroom.

MWEDO Programme Manager Parmet Kopromo said the initiative was being implemented in five districts across Arusha and Manyara regions.

He explained that participating students received training in areas including animal health, community wellbeing, education, environmental protection, water and sanitation.

During the presentation of certificates and prizes to the 66 graduates, students Mary Baraka and Aminaeli Zakayo appealed to programme organisers to expand the initiative to more schools and enrol additional club members.

They said the programme had not only equipped them with practical skills but also improved their communication abilities.