Public schools win 58pc of Samia scholarship

DODOMA: PUBLIC secondary schools have produced 58 per cent of beneficiaries under the Samia Scholarship 2026/2027, compared with 42 per cent from private schools, with the government saying the results demonstrate the growing competitiveness of public schools.

Education, Science and Technology Minister Professor Adolf Mkenda announced the outcome while unveiling the Samia Scholarship 2026/2027 in Dodoma yesterday, under which 1,050 top-performing Form Six graduates will receive fully funded university education, including 50 selected to pursue undergraduate studies abroad.

“The figures show that the Samia Scholarship does not discriminate based on the type of school a student attended. Selection is based solely on the academic criteria set to identify the highestperforming students,” Prof Mkenda said.

He said the Samia Scholarship is a prestigious programme awarded through a highly competitive process designed to ensure that only the most deserving students receive the sponsorship. Prof Mkenda further said 1,000 students have been selected under the Samia STEM Scholarship to pursue undergraduate studies at local universities in priority fields, including Mathematics, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), natural and applied sciences, engineering and medical education.

The beneficiaries were selected from students who excelled in the PCM (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics), PCB (Physics, Chemistry and Biology), CBG (Chemistry, Biology and Geography), PMG (Physics, Mathematics and Geography), CBA (Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture) and PMC (Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science) combinations.

“The names of qualified students have been published on the ministry’s website. What they now need is admission into local universities in the approved programmes because this is a full government scholarship, not a loan,” Prof Mkenda said.

He said successful students will only be required to confirm acceptance of the scholarship after securing admission to the approved universities. Prof Mkenda urged all eligible students to verify their names on the ministry’s website, saying the selection process was conducted transparently and strictly on merit.

“We want every deserving student to receive this scholarship. Anyone who believes they qualified but does not find his or her name should contact the ministry because we want this programme to remain credible and free from favouritism,” he said.

He said the remaining 50 students, selected from the PCM, PGM and PMC combinations, will pursue undergraduate studies abroad under the Samia Extended Scholarship DS/AI+ programme in emerging fields, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Science and related digital technologies.

Before leaving the country, the students will undergo a fully funded preparatory boot camp at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha, where they will receive advanced ICT training, life skills and orientation.

“We will personally contact these students and their parents because the country needs them. Once they accept the scholarship, they will join the boot camp before proceeding to universities abroad,” he said. Prof Mkenda said the programme is designed to nurture highly skilled professionals capable of driving the country’s industrialisation and digital transformation.

He said the first cohort of beneficiaries under the Samia Extended Scholarship DS/ AI+ programme is already performing well, with 16 students studying at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.

“We continue to receive encouraging reports from the University of Johannesburg. They have confirmed that Tanzanian students are performing exceptionally well and demonstrating their academic potential,” he said.

He added that another 32 students are scheduled to depart for the University of Limerick in Ireland on August 28 this year, while two others will join University College Dublin on the same date.

Prof Mkenda said 10 postgraduate students are currently pursuing master’s degrees in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at NM-AIST under the same scholarship programme.

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He also announced that the ministry is finalising the selection of three students who will pursue technologyrelated studies at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras Zanzibar Campus, one of the world’s leading technology institutions.

The rollout of the Samia Scholarship 2026/2027 is in line with the Ministry’s 2026/27 budget, which expands the Samia Scholarship programme from 2,630 beneficiaries in the 2025/26 financial year to 2,738 in 2026/27, comprising 1,000 first-year students and 1,738 continuing beneficiaries.

The budget also expands the Samia Extended Scholarship DS/AI+ programme from 50 to 100 beneficiaries, comprising 50 first-year students and 50 continuing beneficiaries, to pursue undergraduate studies in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and related fields at leading universities abroad.