KOICA, UNOPS hand over labs to Isles schools

THE Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) have constructed modern laboratories in ten secondary schools in Zanzibar aimed at improving students’ performance in science subjects.

“Lack or shortage of furnished labs, including reagents, for science practices has been a challenge to students in many schools. We thank development partners for the labs’ project,” Mr Nyange Othman Silima, a teacher said.

Students and teachers expressed their joy at the handing over of school laboratory equipment to the Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training Ali Abdulghulam Hussein.

The event was held at Jongowe Secondary School at Tumbatu, one of Zanzibar’s small islets in Unguja. The project for the laboratory construction known as Zanzibar Secondary Schools Upgrade Procurement Project cost about 10 million US dollars.

The equipment supplied include 254 lab apparatus such as Hoffman voltameter, Retort stand, Centrifuge machine, Kipps apparatus, Thodaypotometer, Ears model, Human skeleton model, Microscope, Inclined plane, Eureka can, Galvanometer, Rheostat, Wheats- Tone Bridge among others and 19,030 items in total for Physics, Chemistry, and Biology subjects for the ten schools.

With funding of 3 million US dollars, UNOPS constructed science laboratories and supplied equipment to ten secondary schools.

The schools that benefited from the project in Unguja are Tumbatu, Bumbwini, Fukuchani, Jendele and Machui while those that benefited in Pemba are Chambani, Chanjamiawiri, Shumba, Uondwe and Wambaa.

During the ceremony, Deputy Minister Hussein reminded students to make the best use of the modern labs with equipment, and that good performance in science subjects will now be improved, thanking KOICA and UNOPS, the implementers of the project.

He informed the gathering that the government under President Hussein Mwinyi has been collaborating with developing partners to improve the learning environment in schools.

“We need to see that the new labs bring positive impact on your performance in schools as the government plans to employ more teachers particularly for science subjects.”

The deputy minister said KOICA has been supporting education in Zanzibar including capacity building among teachers of English, Mathematics and science subjects since 2018. The project is part of KOICA’s Enhancing the Quality of Secondary School Education through a holistic approach in Zanzibar (EQSSE-Z).

Mr Manshik Shin, Country Director of KOICA Tanzania, and Ms Elizabeth Masuruli, UNOPS Project Engineer, expressed their commitment towards improving Secondary Education in Zanzibar.

UNOPS’ role is to support KOICA in the delivery of the infrastructure component of the EQSSE-Z project to address the problem of lack of science laboratories for learner-centred teaching and learning.