A total of 846 primary schools in Mtwara Region and Zanzibar will benefit from Tanzania 21st Centuary Basic Education programme (TZ21), funded by USAID, to provide Information and Communication Technology (ICT) material in education.

“The programne aims at strengthening reading in Mathematics, Science as well as English subjects in all primary schools. We provide the laptop with its project and the solar power and internet access to operate in all school environments,” says a USAID team leader Thomas LeBlank.

The TZ21 programme will provide a number of laptops to all public primary schools in Mtwara and Zanzibar, LeBlank told The Guardian in Sunday in an interview this week.

It is a five-year basic Education Programme started effectively from 2011 up to 2015

The initiative is carried out closely with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MOEVT) and district staff and will be offering in-depth teacher training to all teachers in all 846 schools.

“TZ21 team is supporting a whole school development approach, assuring that key stakeholders become involved in the school’s transformation and ensuring that trained teachers and students are supported in their use of newly acquired skills,” said LeBlank

According to USAID, two local Internet Service Providers which is Uhuru One for Mainland and Zantel for Zanzibar agreed to develop Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) that will provide technical and material support to the (MOEVTs)

In Zanzibar the programme was launched on February 28, this year, by the President of Zanzibar Dr Ali Mohamad Shein, at the Mwanakwerekwe C Primary Schoo.