These change rooms will provide safe, hygienic spaces for girls to change so they no longer miss out on days of school. These reserved spaces will further support girls with health education and raise community sensitisation on the importance of girls’ education. Five changing rooms are being built across five different primary schools, with a focus on creating an inclusive education among students.

Endagile Primary School

220 children attend and 115 are girls

Gijedabung Primary School

788 children attend and 369 are girls

Hallu Primary School

611 children attend and 293 are girls

Morongi Primary School

779 children attend and 391 are girls

Sora Primary School

426 children attend and 224 are girls

Throughout Africa, girls are less likely than boys to be enrolled in school, and these differences are particularly large after puberty. One in ten schoolgirls in Africa miss classes or drop out completely due to menstruation. In Tanzania, young girls often miss on average five learning days every month due to limited access to sanitary products and inadequate school infrastructure such as a lack of toilets and changing rooms and limited or no water supply.

Construction of the changing rooms at each school commenced in 2022 and each project is being carried out with community engagement and participation – including the contribution of local materials such as gravel, sand, and stone for use in construction.

In early 2023, Airice Mushi, Graduate GIS Expert/Surveyor, was fortunate to visit four schools in Tanzania to see the progress of the SMEC Foundation’s School Infrastructure projects.