This was revealed over the weekend in Bagamoyo by Marian school’s manager, Father Valentino Bayo, during the Marian Family Day sponsored by PPF Pensions Fund.
“We are aiming at producing more scientists in the future. By doing so we are supporting the government’s efforts of developing the science sector and having competent scientists in the country,” he said.
He said the idea of establishing the science university was started 13 years ago (in 2000), and that over the years the Marian school management has been working perfecting the plans, adding that currently the construction of buildings of Library and Laboratories for Chemistry, Biology and Physics are at an advanced stage.
According to Bayo, the university will be part of the Marian schools to enable them provide education from nursery to the highest level.
“This university will start under the umbrella of St Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT). The Marian school was started with only 42 students and four teachers in 1997, but to date the schools have enrolled more than 1,000 students,” he noted. Polycarp Cardinal Pengo, Archbishop of Dar es Salaam, congratulated the PPF for its sponsorship, and in a special way he applauded the effort of starting the construction of the Science University in Bagamoyo.
“The constructions of the University and Marian schools are the efforts of volunteerism. I would like to encourage people to maintain the spirit of volunteerism; it is not true that good education is obtained from abroad like a majority of people think…I went to study abroad after I pursued my first degree here in the country.”
For her part, PPF Marketing and Public relations manager Lulu Mengele said her office has disbursed 4.6bn/- from an education fund for sponsoring education of children of PPF-members who are studying in different schools, including Marian schools, since year 2003.
“For eleven good years we have been sponsoring education for students, last year, the fund spent 813m/- to buy school materials and pay school fees for 1,467 students from nursery to secondary school,” she said.
She said the beneficiaries of education funds are children who lost one of their parents who was a member of PPF, and contributed for three years and above.
One of the beneficiaries, Rozalia Madulu, a former student at Marian Girls secondary school, thanked PPF for continuing to sponsor her studies since 2007, when she was in standard II until the time her father died.
“After the death of my father my mother almost gave up taking me and my sibling to school, but thanks to PPF for holding our hands and giving us strength since then until today”, she said.
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