Bible Knowledge (BK) is an optional subject in all Tanzanian secondary schools, but few schools teach it because they cannot afford the materials and most teachers are not trained to do it. However, some Christian teachers would like to teach BK if they had the opportunity. So we assist them by providing free teaching materials, training and other support services. The books we provide become school property, just like other text books. We have explored the potential for making the program self-funding by selling our books to schools or students, but the reality is that in Tanzania schools can’t afford enough text books even for core subjects, and most students could not afford to pay for books for optional subjects.
Every student of any faith can potentially study BK. This course is not evangelism, it is teaching. Even some Muslims study BK because most Muslims accept the books of the Bible written by Moses (which are covered in Form 1 and Form 2), and they accept the Gospels, one of which is studied in Form 3. Similarly, Christians of all denomination can study BK because the subject of the teaching is the Bible itself, not doctrine.
In 2016 the Diocese of Kagera commenced the program with 18 pastors teaching BK Form 1 in 16 government schools and in its own secondary school. Each pastor was trained, equipped with a teaching kit, and spent one or two days per week teaching in a local school. We provided the schools with Bibles and BK text books published by the diocese. (Actually, our ‘text book’ for Form 1 was initially in photocopied form, but by the end of that year we printed a book for Forms 1 and 2.) Our pastors completed the first year of the program teaching over 1,700 students. We were by no means the first to teach BK, as there were schools in other regions (e.g. the Bunda Girls Secondary School in Mara) who started before us and helped us, but there were no other coordinated programs teaching BK across many schools. (Here’s a link to the Diocese of Kagera offices on Google Maps: location.)
In 2017 government school teachers started joining the program. Many teachers are committed Christians and when asked to help, many agree – especially when we provide them with a teaching kit which makes it much easier. Our teaching kit includes the syllabus, a Bible, our BK text books containing all the lessons according to the syllabus, a teaching guide (including a ‘scheme of work’ to cover the syllabus in the time available), and suggested tests with all the answers. In Kagera we had 24 school teachers running BK in 2017, in addition to 14 pastors. Our coverage increased to about 3,800 students (Forms 1 and 2) in 23 schools in 2017, at very little additional cost. We also helped the Diocese of Lweru to start a similar program covering four schools.
In 2018 in the same region, we were teaching at 10 more schools with 12 more teachers, but the number of students dropped to about 3,000. Download the BK 2018 report here: BK Program Report 2018.pdf. More recent reports can be found under DOWNLOADS.
Now we have three dioceses running their own BK programs (Kagera, Lweru and Biharamulo), all working together. As the program grows, there’s an increasing need for national coordination, to foster schools teaching BK right across Tanzania. One possibility is that CMS-Australia may send a gospel worker to undertake this role, in partnership with the Anglican Church of Tanzania.
We’ve had generous financial support from the Bible Society of Australia, SparkLit, CMS-A, Tanzanian Medical Aid and Anglican Aid (all in Australia), as well as donations from individuals – see DOWNLOADS for more details. That support made it possible for the program to grow rapidly, but there are over 5,000 secondary schools in Tanzania and we need more funding to reach more schools.
WILL YOU HELP US?
We need to raise more funds to:
- Extend the program to more schools. Nearly 5,000 schools are NOT YET teaching BK.
- Have refresher seminars for BK teachers, to encourage them and to develop their BK skills.
- Provide replacement books to schools when needed (text books have a hard life!)
BK offers huge potential for teaching Tanzanian teenagers about the Bible at low cost, but it needs your support.