St. John Seminary
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St.
John’s Seminary
Nursery School, Secondary School and Bible College
St. John’s Seminary offers secondary education for young people aged 14-19years from across Tanzania but especially from within the region of the Diocese of the Rift Valley. St. John’s Seminary is also the sole provider of theological study for the Diocese of the Rift Valley and welcomes Pastors, Catechists and Evangelists from across the parishes of the Diocese to study at the bible school. St. John’s nursery (English Medium) school is the newest development at the school aiming to provide good education for the youngest of children.
History:
St John’s Seminary Bible School was started in 1980 by the Diocese of Central Tanganyika. The secondary school was added initially to assist the pastors studying at the Bible school to gain their secondary education. As this need faded the Secondary school changed focus and joined a government initiative to educate girls. As this need also faded St. John’s secondary school became co-ed and as it is today. Throughout the whole of this history the Bible school has continued to give theological training to pastors, Catechists and Evangelists.
St. John’s Seminary - Bible College:
Currently the bible college has 15 students in the first year. Last year (2013) we were delighted to celebrate with the 9 graduating from the Theology course. The Bible College is supported (financial and prayers) by the Lutheran Church Deaneries of Bernhausen and Bad Urach (now "Bad Urach und Muensingen")- Germany. Some of the Bible school students can be seen here
St. John’s Seminary – Nursery:
The Nursery school will be starting in 2014. It will be English Medium and will provide quality pre-school education for children aged 3-6 years in the Diocese of the Rift Valley specifically from the villages of Kilimatinde and Solya.
Our long term aim is to “Transform lives through education and the love of Christ” from Nursery up to A’level. We are starting this nursery with just one class, 2 teachers and just enough resources, but we hope to grow it so that we have classes for different ages and a purpose built centre in which we can work towards fulfilling our aim.
St. John’s Seminary Secondary School:
Since becoming the Head Master in 2010 Festo Kanungha has been working at turning the school around from the downward trend it was on into a situation where lives are being transformed through education and the love of Christ.
The graduating class of 2013 took our school to fourth in the region and Nationally 227/3256, a vast improvement on years gone by. Not only is the school improving academically but also in its sense of community and unity amongst staff and students
Currently the school has 250 students, 30 teachers and other members of staff.
The students receive the full spectrum of academic subjects including bible knowledge from form 1-4. We also teach additional VETA courses in Tailoring and Mechanics.
As well as in their studying students at St. John’s learn valuable life skills such as; Leadership, Pastoral care, Church leadership, husbandry, management, store keeping, book keeping.
Links:
The secondary school has a number of links outside of Tanzania...
The Kilimatinde Trust, Sandhill View School UK, Manor College UK, Sedgefield community college UK, Venerable Beede UK, Polam Hall UK. St. Austell Parish UK, Stranton UK, Christ Church Woodbury UK, St. Martins Liverpool UK, St Boniface Plymouth UK, Challenge Teams UK. CMS UK Gap year and short term volunteers.
Challenges:
Nursery School, Secondary School and Bible College
St. John’s Seminary offers secondary education for young people aged 14-19years from across Tanzania but especially from within the region of the Diocese of the Rift Valley. St. John’s Seminary is also the sole provider of theological study for the Diocese of the Rift Valley and welcomes Pastors, Catechists and Evangelists from across the parishes of the Diocese to study at the bible school. St. John’s nursery (English Medium) school is the newest development at the school aiming to provide good education for the youngest of children.
History:
St John’s Seminary Bible School was started in 1980 by the Diocese of Central Tanganyika. The secondary school was added initially to assist the pastors studying at the Bible school to gain their secondary education. As this need faded the Secondary school changed focus and joined a government initiative to educate girls. As this need also faded St. John’s secondary school became co-ed and as it is today. Throughout the whole of this history the Bible school has continued to give theological training to pastors, Catechists and Evangelists.
St. John’s Seminary - Bible College:
Currently the bible college has 15 students in the first year. Last year (2013) we were delighted to celebrate with the 9 graduating from the Theology course. The Bible College is supported (financial and prayers) by the Lutheran Church Deaneries of Bernhausen and Bad Urach (now "Bad Urach und Muensingen")- Germany. Some of the Bible school students can be seen here
St. John’s Seminary – Nursery:
The Nursery school will be starting in 2014. It will be English Medium and will provide quality pre-school education for children aged 3-6 years in the Diocese of the Rift Valley specifically from the villages of Kilimatinde and Solya.
Our long term aim is to “Transform lives through education and the love of Christ” from Nursery up to A’level. We are starting this nursery with just one class, 2 teachers and just enough resources, but we hope to grow it so that we have classes for different ages and a purpose built centre in which we can work towards fulfilling our aim.
St. John’s Seminary Secondary School:
Since becoming the Head Master in 2010 Festo Kanungha has been working at turning the school around from the downward trend it was on into a situation where lives are being transformed through education and the love of Christ.
The graduating class of 2013 took our school to fourth in the region and Nationally 227/3256, a vast improvement on years gone by. Not only is the school improving academically but also in its sense of community and unity amongst staff and students
Currently the school has 250 students, 30 teachers and other members of staff.
The students receive the full spectrum of academic subjects including bible knowledge from form 1-4. We also teach additional VETA courses in Tailoring and Mechanics.
As well as in their studying students at St. John’s learn valuable life skills such as; Leadership, Pastoral care, Church leadership, husbandry, management, store keeping, book keeping.
Links:
The secondary school has a number of links outside of Tanzania...
The Kilimatinde Trust, Sandhill View School UK, Manor College UK, Sedgefield community college UK, Venerable Beede UK, Polam Hall UK. St. Austell Parish UK, Stranton UK, Christ Church Woodbury UK, St. Martins Liverpool UK, St Boniface Plymouth UK, Challenge Teams UK. CMS UK Gap year and short term volunteers.
Challenges:
- Not
enough committed and passionate degree level qualified teachers.
- Too
few dormitories and many in need of repair.
- Too
few classrooms – we now require two classrooms for each form.
- No
library
- Monthly
cost of water and electricity.
- Lack
of road worthy school car.
Current developments:
Aside from the nursery school we have started to prepare for a big build initially building dormitories and classrooms. The brick making process has begun and some stones for the foundations have been found. We still need many resources before the building can begin and indeed finish.
Aside from this we are starting a student sponsorship scheme with the help of the Kilimatinde trust.
Future plans:
Other building needs are:
- Appropriate
facilities for the nursery school
- A
Library
- A
chapel.
We hope in the future to install a fully functional computer room, a water harvesting and solar power.
We also hope to build up our school projects which help us to be self sufficient. These currently include Pigs, Cows, Goats, and school garden. In the future we hope to develop the vegetable garden and to build a guesthouse.