How do we measure success in school? Is it the student with the most A's in their results, the child who consistantly scores in the top 10%?

At CEFZ, we acknowledge not every student will be academic, and that is OK. We don't really believe in standardised testing to measure a child's intelligence, if that were the case many of us would be deemed failures. Some children might be really gifted in art, others might be able to good with animals, some may be good farmers, others may have wonderful social intelligence, amazing creativity, and others recognised for being socially and morally upright. Standardised testing doesn't measure many of these admirable qualities in children and youth which also contribute to the ability to lead a successful life.

To be honest, some of our children at CEFZ are not academic. They have had their potential limited by stunting from malnutrition before they came to us, and are dealing with the effects of poor nutrition on their brain development as infants and toddlers. In all, we may have about 25% of students who are slow learners, who would surely have dropped out of their old over-crowded schools early, or matriculated illterate and inumerate. These are the kids who fall behind in any system, let alone an over stressed education system.

All of our students were in this type of learning environment though, and with their access to our Steiner Waldorf curriculum, the magority of them will exceed their prior possibilities at school. Those who perform exceptionally well in their O Level exams will have the option to continue with our support in the best school they can access for A Levels. In reality though, our families and wodowed mothers will probably not be able to send them to universoty; let's hope though, we can find them scholarships.

What of all the other students though?  Those with learning disabilities, the middle of the road kids, and those who just miss out on upper secondary school?

With an education system at CEFZ School which values academic diversity and is structured to meet the individual needs of the child, we think and hope every young person we are educating will leave school with the skillsets, problem solving and critical thinking abilities to be employable and steward their families and communities to a better place, even though they may not set the academic world on fire. 

Currently we have students from our 2022 and 2023 cohort in vocational education and training within the hospitality industry, some are at college learning plumbing, some are training as receptionists, some are studying to be chefs, and some are completing A Levels.

All of these kids are success stories in their own right, many without educated family to advise them, most live with family entrenched in unemployment and poverty. They are the ones who have plugged on doggedly day to day through school, without Mama there to get them out of bed or give them breakfast. While Mama has been off trying to make a small income through selling fish, working on building sites, or travelling to the coast to sell pareos on a hot beach to tourists, these little champions got themselves to school everday. They listened to the advice their teachers gave them, they did their homework as best they could, and they grew into responsible and socially and morally conscious youth.

Success is multi dimensional, and we thank everyone who has helped us move our children along the path to a successful life. A life changing path. Seeing our older students well along the path to independance now, gives us motivation to keep doing what we do, and as always, we are very happy to have our community of donors alongside us.

"If you want to go fast, walk alone.

If you want to go far, walk with others."

                                               African Proverb

Waldorf Curriculum Chart by Yvette Foord.

The Steiner Waldorf Curriculum is so very different from standard school curriculums, but, we manage to cover all of the same subjects and more, only deeper, in a manner which is led by the development of the child, in an investigative, engageing and beautiful way! Here in Zanzibar, since we don't have the classification of an international school with our local Ministry of Education, we are bound to teaching the Zanzibar Ministry of Education Secondary Curriculum. 

Continue Reading

Originally published in Freunde der Erziehungskunst         

The little Waldorf School of the Creative Education Foundation in Zanzibar started in 2012. In the semi-autonomous island state off the coast of Tanzania, half of the population lives below the poverty line; about 12% of children are malnourished. School founder Judi Palmer wanted to present the children of the island with an alternative to the often overcrowded schools and quickly opted for Waldorf education. The Berlin-based Waldorf teacher Sönke Bohn was in Zanzibar for six weeks, as a mentor. For “Waldorf Worldwide” he reports about the school.

Continue Reading