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THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN TANZANIA
NORTH EASTERN DIOCESE
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wishes to inform You about the
PREPARATIONS FOR OPENING |
SEBASTIAN KOLOWA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE |
Sisters and Brothers,
In September 2002, the Executive Committee on behalf of the Executive
Council of the NED, decided to embark on a new project with the aim of
raising the quality of social services as rendered not only by our
Diocese but also by the government. It was decided that the NED should
open a University College that will promote Training and Research in
different fields. |
We are planning to open the University College in 2007. The proposed name of the University College is
SEBASTIAN KOLOWA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
abbreviated
SEKUCO |
| The late Dr. Sebastian Kolowa was elected in 1972 and consecrated in
1974 as the first African Bishop of this diocese. In 1976 he became
Presiding Bishop of ELCT. Bishop Dr. Kolowa held both positions until
his death in October 1992. It is in honour of this renowned, and yet
very humble servant of Jesus Christ, that the University College in our
diocese is proposed to be named. |
| Some of you might be aware of the fact that the NED has a long, broad
and deep history of providing social services to people. There are
people who have nicknamed the NED as “the Diakonia diocese”. The
following activities may justify such a name: |
- In 1904, the first patient was admitted at Lutindi, a hospital for
patients with mental health problems. Its bed capacity is 120. By
medical treatment and occupational therapy, patients with mental
illnesses as well as drug and alcohol abusers are helped.
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- In 1927, a general hospital was opened in Bumbuli. The hospital has a
bed capacity of 120 while 100 students are received at the Clinical
Officers Training Centre annually.
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- In 1962, Irente Children’s Home, was opened for children who are either
motherless/parentless or abandoned or whose mothers suffer from serious
illnesses. Irente Children’s Home can host 30 children but currently
there are more than 40 children. There is also a 2-year course on Child
Care and Domestic Science for girls who have finished Std. VII or Form
IV was introduced at the orphanage of the NED, Irente Children’s Home.
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- In 1963, Irente School for the Blind was opened. It started as a school
for girls but five years later it began to include boys as well. The
school is one of three residential schools for blind pupils in Tanzania
and it receives children from all-over the country. At the moment there
are 76 pupils at Irente. Some of them have low vision while others are
totally blind.
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- In 1987, Lwandai Secondary School was opened in Mlalo village. It is a
boarding school that currently hosts around 470 students. Lwandai is an
Advanced Level Secondary School
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- In 2001, the NED opened Bangala Lutheran Junior Seminary in the village
of Vuga. Bangala provides secondary school education up to Form IV. In
the case of Bangala, being a seminary means that students are taught
Christian ethics as explicated in the Lutheran Church Tradition. The
school offers boarding for its currently 160 students who are either
Lutherans or members of CCT denominations. In 2006, Bangala will start
to receive Form V students.
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- In 2003, Lutindi Mental Hospital opened an outreach clinic in Korogwe
where people with epilepsy and mental health problems receive treatment
and counselling.
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- In 2005, Irente Rainbow School was opened with the purpose of providing
special education for mentally handicapped and autistic children. 23
pupils between the ages of 6 – 18 have been registered. It has been
opened as a day school which means that children who have been
registered so far come from surrounding areas. Being the first school
of its kind in the entire district of Lushoto, Irente Rainbow School
has awakened the attention of parents and relatives of mentally
disabled and autistic children from all-over the district but also from
many parts pf Tanzania.
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It may therefore be said that NED’s engagement in assisting the
government in providing social services to Tanzanians has a long, broad
and deep history. It is long, because it goes back to more than a
century ago. It is broad, because the spectrum of those who benefit
from education and health services provided by NED is very wide. It is
deep, because it includes vulnerable people who are lowly ranked in the
priority lists of most district and regional councils if not totally
forgotten. In the light of such a history, it ought not to be
surprising that the NED now prepares to open a University College.
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| The University College within the NED will serve our diocese because we
will be able to train our own personnel at high level. Frequently,
Churches and Faith Based Organisations in Tanzania run short of
specialists and skilled personnel in many fields. This is one of the
reasons which led the ELCT to open Tumaini University. The government
which itself experiences shortage of competent manpower in most sectors
tries to support churches by seconding staff to our hospitals, schools,
etc. Yet the problem remains crucial. By opening a University College,
we in the NED aim at finding a way out of this problem simultaneously
as we improve the standard of our services to the society. Secondly,
the University College will raise the status of people who are
marginalised and silenced. Among the fields that we plan to start with
is that of Special Needs Education. To a significant extent, this field
is connected to a group of people who are low in the social scale. The
NED has a vision of a nation with high quality service to society
members who are either ranked very low or forgotten altogether in the
priority lists of most District and Regional Councils. Thirdly, the
University College will promote the development of Tanga region and our
country by opening up more opportunities of high level education for
Tanzanians. There is no University in Tanga region and therefore
students from this area have to join Universities in other places.
Still worse, while we experience shortage of professionals in many
sectors, the Universities in our country cannot accommodate all
students who qualify to join University studies in Tanzania. Just to
mention an example, 9,800 students applied to join university studies
at Mzumbe this year. All of them had the necessary qualifications but
only 1,217 were admitted! There are many highly capable Form VI leavers
in Tanzania who have been compelled to take whatever job they could
find. Many remain totally jobless. For a nation which struggles to
develop, this is a sad paradox. The NED is part and parcel of the
Tanzanian society and we feel the pain of being unable to give gifted
men and women the chance to advance academically so that they may serve
our nation at their fullest capacity. By opening a University College,
we will contribute in reversing the trend for the benefit of our
country. |
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The main campus of SEKUCO will be in Magamba, north of Lushoto town. If
expansion would be necessary, which could require another venue in the
future, the following campus will be opened in Tanga. |
The choice of Magamba as venue for the main campus of SEKUCO is
motivated by two reasons. First, the NED has approximately 390 acres of
land in the village of Magamba which is located 8 km north of Lushoto
town. Possession of such a big area is in itself an invaluable
opportunity, bearing in mind the fact that many institutions of higher
learning in our country have to accommodate their activities in much
smaller portions of land. Secondly, the NED has requested to get back
Magamba Secondary School from the state. Like many other church
institutions in our country, Magamba was nationalised in the wake of
the Arusha Declaration. The school is situated within the 390 acres
that are owned by our diocese. Regular contacts between the Minister of
Education and Culture and our Bishop have led the process to a stage
where final formalities are being undertaken by the government. We hope
and pray for a successful completion of this process so that Magamba
Secondary School may be returned to the NED as soon as possible.
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| The choice of Tanga town as a possible venue for a second campus of
SEKUCO if the need for expansion would be there is motivated by the
fact that there are many secondary schools as well as high schools in
Tanga. Moreover, having been declared recently to be a City, Tanga will
attract investments of various types, which will lead to an expansion
of the town. That being the case, the demand of studying opportunities
at higher learning institutions will inevitably increase in the whole
region in general and in Tanga City in particular. The NED wants to
grasp the opportunity of being physically present in that city by
participating with confidence in offering possibilities of high quality
education. |
Our aim is to start with the fields of:
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Special Needs Education
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Neurology and Psychiatry
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Nature Conservation
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Tourism – including eco-tourism
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Swahili
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Business
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Laws
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Sisters and Brothers,
You are welcome to contact us for more information regarding these
plans. Above all, we ask for your prayers. We are taking upon ourselves
this task not for the purpose of getting fame or recognition. Our aim
is to respond in a constructive way to challenges we meet today in our
society and which cannot be left unaddressed. We are doing it now
because we take the lesson embedded in a Swahili saying that “if we
don’t repair the crack today we will have to build a wall tomorrow”.
Above all, we are convinced that Jesus Christ wants this Diakonia
diocese to continue in braving new ways of proclaiming the Good News.
We pray that God shall grant us Joy, Wisdom, Peace and Harmony as we
join our heads, hands and hearts in accomplishing this task for the
sake of the Church of Christ and for Tanzania.
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Rev. Dr. Anneth Munga
Project Director. |
SEKUCo 
