Fighting poverty through education at The School of St Jude in Tanzania

In Tanzania, there are 20,000 primary schools. However, there are only 800 high schools. This means that each year hundreds of thousands of young Tanzanians compete for every single spot at the available high schools. When a child misses out they are denied access to education, opportunities, and more often than not - their ticket out of poverty.

Unable to ignore this deep inequality, Gemma Sisia established The School of St Jude in Tanzania in 2002.

Twenty years ago, The School of St Jude opened with one teacher and a handful of students. Today, The School of St Jude provides free, quality education to 1,800 bright primary and secondary students from disadvantaged backgrounds. 100% of these students are on scholarships which are 100% donor-funded, and 97% of St Jude’s secondary graduates go on to access higher education.

The “Beyond St Jude’s” program has also been launched - where 100s of recent graduates volunteer as teachers in government schools. Not only does this program fill an urgent gap for teachers in Tanzania but is an extremely formative year for the graduates - where they navigate becoming an adult and giving back to their community.

In this episode, join Philanthropod’s host, Anubha Rawat, in discussion with Gemma who takes us on her inspiring journey - from her childhood in regional Australia to the founding and growth of The School of St Jude. Along the way, Anubha and Gemma also discuss timely international development themes such as the importance of localisation and maximizing impact for both donors and students. Finally, the episode ends with incredible moments of circularity as Gemma shares how the impact of her work is starting to emerge in wonderful and unexpected ways: from running into two former female students working as doctors to meeting with an alum who is the first Tanzanian referee in the English Premier League. With such encounters only representing the first generation of graduates - the journey has only just begun. 

To learn more about the School of St Judes follow the link: https://www.schoolofstjude.org/ 

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