Arusha — St. Thomas, one of the top rated English medium primary schools in Arusha, plans to expand so that it can become a centre of excellence in education.

Galinga Makongoro, the school director said during a recent graduation ceremony that consultants have been hired to see the possibility of turning a leading education institution.

He added that the school has enough land to cater for the anticipated expansion. He could not give much details but there are plans to extend St. Thomas into a secondary school.

The school, located at Moshono on the south eastern suburbs of Arusha, has since it was established in the late 1990s, been among the top ten at the Standard VII National Examinations in Arusha region.

"This is the school that offers the best education to Tanzanian children at a very affordable price. Needless to say, a lot of expenses are subsidized by the owners of the school" he said.

Mr. Makongoro added that he sympathised with the poor parents and that was why the school management decided to subsidize the school fees to give them some relief.

Officiating at the graduation ceremony, a public affairs and marketing official of the East and Southern Africa Management Institute (ESAMI) Leon Malisa emphasized the teaching of science.

He noted that science subjects were key to the entire education development and decried the tendency of students, particularly in secondary schools, to skip science subjects.

He said schools should make deliberate efforts to encourage students to take science option because to brighten their further academic advancements.

"Make no mistake at this stage. Science and Mathematics are basic tools for our education system.

"Even people pursuing business accounts and lawyers need Mathematics in their daily activities" he said.

Mr. Malisa said science subjects made it easier for students to embrace Information and Communication Technology (ICT), now a major working tool in practically all institutions.

He lauded the Government for emphasizing the role of science and technology (S + T) in its development vision, saying that cannot be realised without science teaching taken seriously.

Some 57 students, 28 girls and 29 boys graduated at the school which, according to its director Mr. Galinga Makongoro is among the 10 best in Arusha region.

Mr. Malisa, a parent promised to donate Sh. 50,000 each year for the best science student in the school as a way to motivate students to embrace science.

A similar pledge (Sh. 50,000) was made last year by another parent Raymond Muro who is a tutor at the Institute of Accountancy Arusha (IAA) who said he was introducing the award for best science student because Tanzania was lagging behind in S + T.

The school proprietor, Mr. Makongoro said consultants have been hired from both within and outside the country to see how the school can utilise its ample land and expand it to seconary school and beyond.