THOUSANDS of children who dropped out of school due to various reasons have returned to school in Mara Region, thanks to Graca Machel Trust (GMT) support in recent years.

According to Monitoring and Evaluation Manager of Mara Out Of School Children Project Nollasko Mgimba, more than 23,000 needy children have benefited from the project.

Mr Mgimba said this during the commemoration of this year’s World Children’s Day in Musoma recently.

Beneficiaries included girls from various districts including Tarime, Butiama, Musoma, Serengeti, Rorya and Bunda.

A number of children from target districts gathered in Musoma to join their peers across the world to mark their day which is celebrated each year on November 20.

The project operates under the Roman Catholic Church in Musoma Diocese with GMT support.

It aims at reintegrating children in a basic education system by removing barriers that keep them out of school.

Speaking on the occasion, Musoma Catholic Diocese Bishop Michael Msonganzila thanked former Mozambican and South African First Lady Graca Machel for supporting children through GMT.

“This mother (Graca Machel) saw the problem of children dropping out of school in our region and accepted our church request to support them to achieve their dreams,” Bishop Msonganzila said.

He appealed to other nonprofit making organisations in Tanzania and other parts of Africa to learn from GMT and supporting needy children to access education.