THE Organization for Community Development (OCODE) has been actively engaging in a number of activities that are geared at enhancing education quality and youth empowerment in Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam Region and Bagamoyo District in Coast Region.

In Kinondoni District, the organization conducts its activities in four wards—Mbweni, Kunduchi, Kawe and Bunju.

The organization focuses on activities aimed at improving early childhood education, particularly focusing on school readiness, literacy, and numeracy skills through initiatives like enhancing school infrastructure, providing learning materials, and capacity building for teachers and school administrators within the community.

Recently, OCODE organized a stakeholder’s seminar to brief them on the various activities it intends to implement in 2025 as well as sharing successes recorded in the year 2024.

Tunu Sanga, is the organization’s Education Programme Officer; she said: “We have been carrying out various activities to improve the learning environment for pupils, including those in adult education programmes. We are planning to offer 45 desks, mats and tables to one of the schools by June this year.”

She said this February, OCODE will also conduct training sessions for school committee members to help them understand their responsibilities. 

Working with these committees has had a positive impact, as some schools have successfully sought funding from different organizations, securing more than 40 desks, said the officer.

Giving an example, Sanga mentioned the school committee in Maramba Mawili area whereas it mobilized parents to contribute, leading to the acquisition of 10 desks while in Kiluvya primary school, the committee helped secure funding for the renovation of toilets. 

She said once the school committees are empowered, they can help in securing various types of assistance for improvement of infrastructures and learning environment.

“We do not want school committees to complain that the government has not acted; instead, we want them to be able to write proposals and seek funding from different sources. When schools take the initiative, even the government steps in to complete initiated projects,” said Sanga, adding that that identified schools had their physical learning spaces upgraded with necessary furniture and equipment to create a conducive learning environment. 

She added that OCODE has also been providing professional development programmes for teachers to enhance their skills in early childhood education methodologies, especially in literacy and numeracy instruction.

UWAWA committees, which oversee all school-related matters, will this year be empowered so that members understand their roles and responsibilities in bringing development to specific schools. UWAWA refers to members of teacher-parent committees.

This year, we will also focus on children with special needs by providing assistive devices to help them access education effectively. For those who cannot walk, we are collaborating with CCBRT Hospital to provide wheelchairs.

Last year, OCODE conducted training sessions for head teachers, assistants and pre-primary and grade one teachers from schools in Mbweni, Kawe, and Mtongani within Kinondoni aiming to enhance their understanding of quality inclusive education, thus enabling them to better support students during the learning process. Generally, the trainings are scheduled to further promote inclusive education practices.

Youth Empowerment Officer, Elizabeth Franus said OCODE is implementing the ‘Bonga’ (Back-to-School) project:, which focuses on supporting out-of-school adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years.

The project’s goal is to empower 700 youths by 2027. Under the project, youth are provided with a second chance to continue with education while being equipped with life skills to become productive members of society. Bonga is executed in both Bagamoyo and Kinondoni districts.

“We empower out-of-school adolescents 19 years who, due to various reasons, have not progressed in the formal education system. We empower them to become productive and respected members of the society instead of remaining in the street. Empowered youth become valuable and are no longer considered as a burden to their families,” said Franus.

According to her, beneficiaries in this project include youth (girls and boys) who did not make it to secondary schools, those who drop out of school due to early pregnancy and marriage, and other difficult life circumstances.

She said this year, plans are to conduct eight community sensitization meetings to reach out to young people who have the potential to return to school but lack support as well as conducting capacity-building training for both teachers and parents so that they encourage youth to re-enrol in school.

“It is important to engage teachers to chart ways how these youth can return to school, as some pupils find it difficult to go back to their previous schools. Many prefer to enrol in a different school,” she explained.

Community empowerment

The official noted that apart from supporting educational projects, the organization also works to empower the community through Community Managed Savings Groups (CMSG).

These groups involve women from Kinondoni and Bagamoyo districts aiming to empower women by organizing them into groups and providing them with entrepreneurship training to help them achieve financial independence.

“By improving household income and creating employment opportunities, women who acquire skills in soap-making and batik production can generate income and improve their livelihoods,” she said, noting that currently, 70 percent of the group members are women and 30 percent are men.

Women are given priority to enable them to contribute financially to their families. In Kinondoni, the target is to register 600 people in CMSG and the same number in Bagamoyo.

She said a number of successes have been recorded whereas they conducted community sensitization meetings where members were educated on the benefits of joining savings groups.

 OCODE succesfully established 27 savings groups, where members can save money and access loans easily. Nine groups are in Kinondoni District, and 16 groups are in Bagamoyo District, Coast Region.